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"Ow^ touch of Nature makes the whole world ktn 





5 J 



New York's Awful 

Excursion Boat Horror 

TOLD BY 

Survivors and Rescuers 



EDITED BY 

JOHN WESLEY HANSON 



The GhasUy Story of the Heart-Rending Tragedy at 
Hell Gate Vividly Portrayed by Pen and Picture. 

Every Harrowing Detail of the World's Most AppalHng 

Holocaust Accurately Described by Eye-Witnesses. 

The Self-Sacrificing Heroism of Mothers. The 

Wholesale Cremation of Little Children. 

The Noble Deeds of Brave Life-Savers. 

The Thrilling Scenes on the Flame-Swept Decks of the 

Ill-Fated Pleasure Boat, General Slocum, 

Truthfully Delineated. 



ILLUSTRATED 

WITH VIEWS TAKEN DURING AND AFTER THE CALAMITY 



U... 



LieB*RV nf G0N6RESS 
Two Oooies Received 
AUG 3 1904 

C Oopyrtght Entry 

Class x xxc. no. 

COPY B 



Copyright, 1904, by 
iOHN W. HANSON 



S 



INTRODUCTION 



One beautiful day in June an excursion steamer, with 
twelve hundred Christian souls on board, set forth upon a 
pleasure trip. The boat was gay with multi-colored bunting; 
the happy voices of care-free women rang across the dancing 
waters; happy children were romping over the decks and — as 
if in mockery of the predestined catastrophe that was to follow 
— the band was playing a sacred hymn, "Our God Is a Mighty 
Fortress." Then the brutal hand of Fate swept the picture 
from the canvas and in its place supplied a fiendish nightmare 
vision of horrid anguish and frantic terror. 

No artist, unless he dipped his brush in the colors of hell, 
could portray the awful scene of a majestic vessel, wrapped in 
great sheets of devouring flame, speeding to a haven of 
refuge, while the grim helmsman Death wrestled for suprem- 
acy with the heroic captain at the wheel. And it would 
need the genius of a Dante to word-paint the dreadful spec- 
tacle of helpless children roasted alive before their mother's 
eyes or swept by fear-crazed hundreds over the burning rails 
of the boat into the hungry jaws of the devouring tide— of 
gentle women and feeble old men crushed beneath the falling 
timbers of the decks or hurled to a swifter and, possibly, less 
terrible death, in the rushing waters of the river. 

"There is purpose in pain— otherwise it were devilish," and 

3 



4 INTRODUCTION 

may not the fact that this sacrifice of human life was per- 
mitted to take place be only another proof of an all-seeing 
Providence that, "deep within the shadow, keepeth watch 
above His own"? For this is the lesson to be drawn from the 
disaster on the East River: The human family is traveling 
toward the same goal — "the ways they are many, the end it is 
one" — but each is the way of the Cross. 

Terrible was the suffering on board the General Slocum, 
but, in the midst of the agony of body and spirit of the 
doomed passengers, one great familiar truth stood revealed 
in all its sublimity and grandeur: "Love conquereth all 
things." The love of a mother for her child, which even 
death cannot appall; the love of husband and wife, which fire 
doth but purify; the love of brother and sister, were illus- 
trated hundreds of times during that fiery ordeal. But greater 
than these were the splendid examples of man's love for his 
fellow man that inspired scores of courageous hearts to sacri- 
fice their lives for the sake of strangers, drawn to them, in 
those awful moments, by the tie of universal brotherhood — for 
the sight of suffering is the "one touch of nature that makes 
the whole world kin." 

What, then, was the purpose of the Hell Gate horror? It 
was to soften the heart and chasten the spirit of man. The 
very thought of a thousand people suddenly given the choice 
of two horrible deaths — burning or drowning — is fearful to 
contemplate, but, when the majority of them are little chil- 
dren, it becomes a sacred tragedy, thrilling, intense and 
pathetic. But, after all, it was the number of victims, sacri- 
ficed to human cupidity and carelessness, that intensified the 
wave of sympathy that swept the country. If, when the news 



INTRODUCTION 5 

of the disaster had been flashed over the world, It had 
recorded the death of one little baby, what would the effect 
have been? The world would have shuddered and then for- 
gotten—and yet some mother's heart would have been made 
desolate thereby. Therefore, much good will come from the 
very immensity of the holocaust. We needed the lesson, hard 
as it was, and the storm of public sentiment that the calamity 
has aroused will mean that, for a long time, the lives of 
women and children will be more zealously safeguarded. 

"Example is a living law, whose sway 
Men more than all the written laws obey." 

Surely those little ones, whose lives went out in the smoke 
and flame of the burning steamer, did not die in vain. And 
that army of mothers, who suffered glorious martyrdom that 
the inhumanities of commercialism might be exposed, were 
part of the same salutary plan. So, too, the splendid example 
of those heroes and heroines whose deeds of daring and self- 
sacrifice are recorded in the pages of this book, will do much 
to curb the avaricious spirit of the times— the lust for blood- 
jnoney— that reached its climax when the wrecked hull of the 
General Slocum was beached on the shore of North Brother 

Island. 

John Wesley Hanson. 



The Passengers' Death Song 

'■'■Ein Feste Burg 1st Unser Gott," the great 
hymn of the Lutheran church, which the mighty 
Martin and his followers sang as they entered 
the diet at Worms to stand trial for Jieresy, and 
which the Pan-German army chanted on the battle- 
fields of France in j8yo, zvas the hymn sung by the 
ill-fated passengers of the General Slocum zvhen 
they started on their last voyage. 

This English version is by Frederic Henry 
Hedge : 

^ i^igl^t^ f^xixtm \^ our cBfoti 

A mighty fortress is our God, 

A bulwark never failing ; 
Our helper he amid the flood 

Of mortal ills prevailing. 
For still our ancient foe 
Doth seek to work us tvoe ; 
His craft and potver are great 
And armed with equal hate, 

On earth is not his equal. 

Did %ve in our own strength confide. 
Our striving ivould be losing ; 

Were not the right jnaji on our side. 
The man of God' s oivn choosing. 

Dost ask who that may be ? 

Christ Jesus, it is he. 

Lord Sabaoth his tiame, 

From age to age the same, 
And he must win the battle. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

CHAPTER"'! 
THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 

PAGE 

Hundreds Roasted Alive or Drowned — Passengers Panic-stricken — A Carnival 
of Terror — Women and Children with Their Hair and Clothing on Fire — 
Wailing Children and Old People Trampled Under Foot — Crowded into 
the Water — The Fall of the Hurricane Deck — Rotten Life Preservers — 
Heroic Captain and Pilots^-The Cause of the Fire — Story of Cruel Selfish- 
ness—The Tide Gives Up the Dead 13 

CHAPTER II 
A DAY OF BRIGHT PROMISE 

The Boat Starts — An Eager Crowd — An Ideal Day for a Picnic — Big Family 
Parties on Board — "Our God Is a Mighty Fortress" — Hell Gate Passed — 
The First Burst of Smoke — Warning from Passing Craft — Children 
Thought the Fire Alarm a Joke — The Captain Heads for the Shores of 
North Brother Island — Hemmed in by Fire — Mothers Fight for Their 
Children Like Wild Beasts 2g 

CHAPTER III 
HARROWING DETAILS 

No Chance for Rescue — Into the Racing Tide — Writhing Figure in the Burning 
Wreckage — Ablaze from Stem to Stern — The Captain and Pilots at 
Their Stations — A Heroic Coxswain — Brave Jack Wade — Fireboats Sound 
the Alarm — A Boy's Brave Fight — The Burning Hulk Sinks — Refuse to 
Lend a Helping Hand — Over Four Hundred Dead on North Brother 
Island — Divers Begin the Search — Statement of the Pilot— Sad Features. . 39 

CHAPTER IV 
HEROIC RESCUERS 

Bravery of the Nurses — Florence Denning Saves Seven — Other Heroines — The 
Bravery of a Switchboard Girl — A Courageous Irish Girl — Lashed to the 
Burning Steamship — Flannery the Hero — Heartrending Appeals for Aid — 
Tugboat Men to the Rescue — Saves His Sweetheart — Three Girls 
Rescued — An Eleven -Year-Old Boy Shows Great Presence of Mind— Van 
Tassel, the Intrepid Policeman 63 

CHAPTER V 
THE SUNKEN SEPULCHER 
A Grewsome Task— Diver Finds Eighty Bodies of Women and Children — 
Pinned Down by Metal and Wood — In the Clutch of the Tide — A 
Shapeless Heap of Dead — Pitiful Forms Crushed by Beams — 
Bodies Floating Rapidly Away — The Work of Rice and Other Divers 77 

7 



8 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VI 
SCENES AT THE MORGUE 

Awaiting the Arrival of the Dead— First Boatload of Thirty Bodies — Eighty 
Dead on the Massasoit — Rows of Pine Boxes — Wide-open Eyes Staring 
Upward — A Father Finds His Baby Daughter — Wife and Children Gone — 
The Tireless Search at Hospitals — Human Tragedies 87 

CHAPTER VH 
HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 

flev. George C. P. Haas Relates His Experiences — An Inhuman Brute — Heat 
of the Flames Prevents the Work of Rescue — Story of a Deckhand — A 
Fireman Loses His Family — Rail of the Boat Gives Way — Left with 
Only His Baby— Watching While Mother Dies— The Children's Side of the 
Disaster the Most Pathetic— Gave Up Life Preserver— Priests Comfort 
the Bereaved Ones— Mother and Child Die Together — Pickpockets— 
Twenty-nine Relatives Gone 102 

CHAPTER VIII 
THE captain's STORY 

The First Alarm of Fire— Knew that the Slocum Was Doomed— Could Not 
Swing the Boat Against the Tide— No Chance to Beach the Steamer- 
Scores Pitched into the River— Tried by Fire— Did the Captain Blunder? — 
Other Means of Escape— The Crew Blamed 120 

CHAPTER IX 
HISTORY OF THE GENERAL SLOCUM 

Built in i8gi— Made Entirely of Wood— Overhauled and Inspected Shortly 
Before the Disaster— A Victim of Many Mishaps— Present Laws Which 
Govern Inspection of Steamboats— Same Accident May Occur to Any 
Excursion Steamer— Stop the Building of Boats with Flimsy Upper 
Decks— A Boiler Always a Danger Spot— Age of Boat Does Not Count. . 131 

CHAPTER X 
THE SPECTACLE FROM THE SHORE 

An Ominous Cloud of Smoke— Enveloped in Flame— A Huddled Mass of 
Women and Children— Bodies in the Wake of the Burning Boat— The 
Dead Tangled in the Debris— A Floating Crematory— Shrieking Mass in 
the Water— The Beach Strewn with Disfigured Dead 138 

CHAPTER XI 
HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES 

Clara Hartmann's Story— Alive but Tagged with a Death Mark of Identification 
—Thrilling Story— Boyish Pluck— Clung to a Paddlewhecl— A Pile of 
Heads, Legs and Arms— Hair and Clothing on Fire— Dragged under 
Water— Plucked from the Waters 140 



CONTENTS 9 

CHAPTER XII 

A HOUSE OF LAMENTATION 

Thriving Neighborhood Plunged in Woe — Once Happy Church Turned into a 
Place of Mourning— Sorrow for the Lost — Woeful Trips of the Under- 
takers' Wagons — The Missing — St. Mark's Church an Old One — The 
Streets Thronged with Mourners — Crowds Round the Church — People 
Clamoring for Information — Crape-Hung Doorways 155 

CHAPTER XIII 

STORIES OF EYE-WITNESSES 

Tales of Horror — A Brave "Trusty" — An Unknown Hero — Clinging to the 
Paddle-Wheel— The Work of Herbert Farrell— What Captain McGovern 
Saw — Remarkable Child-Bravery — Survivors Commit Suicide — Robbing 
the Dead — Crazed Mothers Hurl Babies into the River — Paddlewheel 
Choked with the Bodies of Victims — Saw the Hurricane Deck Collapse 
—Fifty Childen Perished in the Whirlpool of Hell Gate 167 

CHAPTER XIV 
IDENTIFYING THE DEAD 

Clothing of Victims Searched for Effects — The Bodies Carefully Tagged— Many 
Charred Beyond Recognition — Identified by Some Article of Clothing or 
Trinket— Searching for Loved Ones— Remains Sent to the Morgue — 
System for Preventing Mistaken Identification 177 

CHAPTER XV 
TESTIMONY OF THE SURVIVORS 

The Story of Clara Stuer— Awful Scenes Witncp.sed by Little Sallie Klein— His 
Dead Wife Smiled— Twenty Boys Form a Bucket Brigade— Annie Weber's 
Dreadful Narrative— The Statement of John Halphusen 186 

CHAPTER XVI 
EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY 

President Roosevelt's Message— England Horrified— Offers of Aid from 
American Cities— President Loubet Cables His Sympathy —Mayor 
Harrison Sends a Telegram of Condolence to the New York Executive — 
Generous Contributions from Wealthy Sympathizers— Letters from 
Clergymen — Cablegrams from Euroj^ean Monarchs i97 

CHAPTER XVII 
SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS 
A Happy Party of Children— A Freight of Youthful Happiness— The Little Tots 
Flock Together— No Hint of Danger— Eating Ice Cream When the Fire 
Started— Looking Forward to a Day on Long Island— Tiny Toddlers 
Lost from Their Mothers— Baby Heroes and Heroines— Mothers Crazed 
with Panic — Empty Benches in Schools 205 



10 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XVIII 
MEMORIAL SERVICES 

Comforting Words' from Clergymen — A Sad Sabbath — Pathetic Scenes at 
Church — Quotations from Addresses of Noted Divines — A Whole City 
Mourns — Churches of Every Denomination Send Messages — Prayers are 
Read— Bells are Tolled during the Funerals 214 



CHAPTER XIX 
NOBLE WORK AT THE HOSPITALS 

Physicians and Nurses Act as Life-Savers— Burned Children Tenderly Cared 
for — Setting a Baby's Broken Jaw— Caring for the Injured at North 
Brother Island— Nurses Brave Death to Aid the Helpless Ones — No Work 
Too Hard for Them— Energy Born of Desperation — Clamoring, Frantic 
Men and Women— An AU-Night Task— The City Hospitals 228 



CHAPTER XX 
FUNERALS OF THE VICTIMS 

Funerals from Dawn to Dark — Morbid Crowds— Burial of Mrs. Haas— The 
Unknown Dead — Children Take Part in the Ceremonies — Curiosity 
Seekers— The Child with the Rose 236 



CHAPTER XXI 
THE coroner's INQUEST 

Testimony of Owners and Crew of the Slocum— No Fire Precautions— Refuse 
to Testify — Bursting of the Hose — Only One Member of the Crew 
Drowned — Hero Day at the Inquiry — Scum of Powdered Cork on the 
Water — Rotten Hose and Useless Life Preservers — The Survivors 
Testify— Held to the Grand Jury 245 



CHAPTER XXII 
official LIST OF THE DEAD 267 

CHAPTER XXIII 
RECORD OF STEAMBOAT DISASTERS 307 

CHAPTER XXIV 
THE NORGE DISASTER 314 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Bodies on the Lawn near Riverside Hospital 

An Innocent Victim 

Policemen Carrying Injured into the Ambulance 

Hauling Bodies over the Wall 

Interior View of the Morgue 

Recovering Bodies 

The General Slocum Just Before the Fire Broke Out 

Bodies of the Victims Strewn along the Shore 

Boat Bringing Survivors and Dead Bodies to Land 

Four Heroes 

Diver John Rice Coming Up from the Wreck 

Fishing Up Bodies from the River 

Some of the Survivors of the Disaster 

A Group of Bereaved Relatives 

Bodies Wedged in the Paddlebox 

Boats Removing Bodies from the Sunken Wreck 

View of the Burning Steamer 

Exterior View of the Morgue 

Identifying the Dead 

Heroic Rescuers at Work 

One of the Life Preservers 

A Simple Funeral 

A House of Mourning 

Anxious Crowd on the New York Shore 

Five Dead in One Home 

A Burned and Mutilated Body 

Preparing the Bodies for Identification 

Rev. Geo. C. F. Haas 

Funeral of the Pastor's Wife 

A Row of Corpses Awaiting Removal 

Bodies Lying on the Shore of North Brother Island 

Throng in Front of St. Mark's Church 

Funeral of the Unknown Dead 

Inspector Lundberg on the Witness Stand 

Deckhand Coakley Testifying 

Portraits of Mrs. Anna Backman and her Baby 

Portrait of Mary Duckhoff 

Portraits of the Muth Children 

Portrait of Minnie Christ 

A Pitiful Story 

Coroner's Jury in Session 

Chief Engineer Conkling Giving his Testimony 



CHAPTER I 

THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 

Hundreds Roasted Alive or Drowned— Passengers Panic-stricken — A Carni- 
val of Terror — Women and Children with their Hair and Clothing en 
Fire— Wailing Children and Old People Trampled under Foot— Crowded 
into the Water— The Fall of the Hurricane Deck — Rotten Life Preserv- 
ers — Heroic Captain and Pilots — The Cause of the Fire — Story of 
Cruel Selfishness^The Tide Gives Tip the Dead — Ghastly Evidence. 

On Wednesday, June 15, 1904, occurred one of the most 
horrible catastrophes in history. A steamer, the General Slo- 
cum, filled with happy excursionists, burst into flames near 
Hell Gate, in the East River, New York, and hundreds of 
people, mostly Sunday school pupils and their parents, were 
consumed by fire or hurled to a watery grave in the seething 
flood. 

The disaster exceeded in numbers and wholly matched in 
pitifulness and horror the Iroquois theater fire in Chicago last 
December. It was appalling in its immensity, dramatic in its 
episodes, and deeply pathetic in the tender age of most of its 
victims. 

VICTIMS MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN 

As in the Iroquois fire, most of the victims were women 

and children. They were members of the Sunday school of 

St. Mark's German Lutheran church, bound for their annual 

excursion up Long Island Sound, happy, gay, care free, and 

full of joyous expectations of their day of all days in the year. 

13 



14 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

They went to their death with bands playing, flags whip- 
ping in the breeze, and under as fair a sky as was ever vouch- 
safed to a picnic crowd. The four hundred children were 
singing, dancing, and waving handkerchiefs and flags in 
answer to the salutations of those on shore or from passing 
steamers. 

MADE THE HEART SICK 

The scenes during and after the catastrophe were the kind 
that make the heart sick. Mothers hugging their children to 
their breasts in love and terror were forced to choose between 
certain death in the flames and almost equally certain death 
in the water. 

Some, made frantic by their sudden peril, threw their babes 
into the whirling waters of Hell Gate, hoping doubtless for 
improbable rescue, while many were not allowed the poor 
privilege of choosing, but were forced overboard by the mad 
rush of the panic-stricken passengers in their efforts to get 
away from the flames. 

ROASTED ALIVE 

It was a spectacle of horror beyond words to express — a 
great vessel all in flames, sweeping forward in the sunlight, 
within sight of the crowded city, while its helpless, screaming 
hundreds were roasted alive or swallowed up in the waves; 
women and children with. their hair and clothing on fire; wail- 
ing children and old men trampled under foot or crowded 
over into the water — and the burning steamboat, its whistle 
roaring for assistance, speeding for the shore, with a trail of 
ghastly faces and clutching hands in the tide behind — gray- 
haired mothers and tender infants going down to death 
together. 



THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 15 

Members of the crew endeavored to extinguish the flames. 
Their efforts were unavailing and in an incredibly short time 
the fire gained uncontrollable headway. Clouds of smoke 
rolled back through the crowded decks. The flames followed 
instantly and a wild panic ensued. 

WILD PANIC AMONG PASSENGERS 

Hemmed in by the rocks of Hell Gate, the captain was 
unable to turn his vessel in the channel, and crowding on all 
steam he made for North Brother Island, directly ahead. 

With the first rush of smoke and fire those on the forward 
deck were driven back and many persons were crushed against 
the rail and pushed overboard. 

As the panic spread, many sprang over the rail, at first by 
twos and threes, and then as the fire rushed aft they went 
over by dozens. 

MOTHERS THROW BABIES OVERBOARD 

Crazed parents threw children overboard and followed 
themselves, only to drown in the swift waters of Hell Gate. 
As with her engines driving her at full speed the big vessel 
churned toward the beach at North Brother Island she left a 
train of dark forms in her wake, and how many thus perished 
probably will never be known. 

FALL OF THE HURRICANE DECK 

Before she was beached the crowded hurricane deck gave 
way and threw hundreds into the fiery furnace 'tween decks, 
already choked with a struggling, panic-stricken mass of 
women and children. 

Continuous blasts of the Slocum's siren brought dozens of 
tugs and small craft to her side, and the work of rescue was 



i6 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

quick and daring. Some of the tugs stuck to her side until 
they themselves were afire or were driven off by the leaping 
flames. 

USELESS LIFE PRESERVERS 

To add to the unspeakable hideousness of it all, the extent 
of the disaster might, in the view of many, have been lessened 
if better judgment had been shown in the crisis by those in 
charge of the boat. 

Also ominous facts came to light which tended to show 
that proper safety appliances were not provided on the boat. 
Rotten, useless life preservers, out of reach, and filled with 
cork dust, were the mocking instruments of salvation with 
which the vessel was furnished. 

It was established that a man's thumb nail was a weapon 
that would rip many of the life preservers on the ship wide 
open, and that the things were filled with granulated cork, 
which quickly becomes water-soaked and loses buoyancy. 

CAPTAIN AT A LOSS FOR REASON 

Captain William H. Van Schaick of the Slocum explained 
as best he could the horrible disaster that had come to the 
company under his care and direction. He was a man sixty- 
one years old, of long experience in commanding pleasure 
craft in the waters around New York. Captain Van Schaick 
said that though he heard the alarm of fire early he made up 
his mind at once that there was no certain place where it 
could be beached in shallow water south of North Brother 
Island. 

The tide was running up to the sound with terrific velocity, 
and he was sure that he would lose time trying to turn his 




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THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 17 

bo,at into a proper beaching place south of the island. He 
stuck to his post, although the flames scorched his clothing, 
until the boat was hard and fast ashore. Pilot Van Wart 
staid with him. 

River men generally were divided as to the good judgment 
shown by Captain Van Schaick in trying to go so far. It was 
nearly an even division. The captain himself admitted that 
it was not until after the fire had been going some time that 
he realized its fierceness and its rapidity. 

INFLAMMABLES IN THE FORE CABIN 

There was a compartment in the hold of the General Slo- 
cum known as the second cabin. It was forward just aft the 
forecastle. In this room were kept the lamps and the oil for 
them, the gasoline and brass-polishing liquids, and all the 
other inflammable supplies. It was not determined at first 
whether the fire started in this cabin. But it was known that 
the flames were fed there to reach their greatest and most 
murderous intensity. From that cabin the fire swept back 
through the boat with a fierceness that no fire-fighting appa- 
ratus could hold in check. 

SCENES OF FRIGHTFUL HORROR 

There were scenes of horror on the General Slocum and 
on shore beyond the ability of any one to describe. 

It was a boat load of women and little children. For the 
last mile when the steamer, spouting flames high into the air, 
was shooting swiftly out of the sound with the tide, people on 
shore and on other steamers could see the women and chil- 
dren fluttering over the sides into the water in scores. 

The river is swift there at flood tide. The waves grab for- 



i8 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

ward at one another with hungry white fingers. A strong 
man would have but little chance. The women and the chil- 
dren had no chance. 

There were also heard such stories as often come out after 
a disaster — stories of cruel selfishness by members of the crew, 
of cold disregard of the Slocum's distress signals and most 
evident need by pleasure and business craft in the harbor. 

In the end came the story that there had been looting of 
the bodies of the dead. Some of these things were more or 
less true. 

GLORIOUS RECORDS OF HEROISM 

But there was a glorious record of self-sacrifice and of 
bravery to be set over against all that was evil or unmanly. 
Of such were the bravery with which the old captain and his 
pilots staid at their posts, the noble efforts of the policemen 
who were on the burning boat, to save the lives of those 
intrusted to their care; the beautiful recklessness of the 
women nurses and the convalescent patients from the hos- 
pitals on North Brother Island, risking their lives to dash 
into the water around the burning boat, to pull out drowning 
children and women; the brave deeds of the men on the 
city's boats, the Franklin Edson and the Massasoit, and on 
the tugs Theodore and Wade. 

HELP RUSHED TO THE SCENE 

Some day some one will fittingly dress out the deeds of the 
daring rescuers, but there was no time for the glorying in 
heroes. For every one whose deeds were seen and mentally 
registered in the flying moments of horror and peril, there 
were hundreds of others in which the rescued were too much 



THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 19 

scared to appreciate what was being done for them and the 
rescuers too busy to take note for themselves. 

Ambulances and patrol wagons from nearly every corner 
of the city were sent to points along the Bronx shore nearest 
the wreck. Physicians and nurses came by hundreds not only 
from hospitals, public and private, in all the boroughs of the 
city, but singly, from their private offices, from as far away as 
Newark and Paterson. 

Bodies were sent down to the Bellevue morgue from North 
Brother Island as fast as they were recovered until there was 
no more room there. Most of them were unidentified. 

LOW TIDE GIVES UP DEAD 

At about five o'clock, when the tide was low, there was a 
sudden increase in the rapidity with which bodies were 
recovered. They were brought out of the water near where 
the Slocum had been grounded at the rate of about one a 
minute. 

A temporary morgue was established on the island, and the 
work of identifying the bodies commenced. Some of them, how- 
ever, were so badly burned that they could not be recognized. 

All the afternoon and night great, silent crowds, thousands 
and thousands of people, stood in front of the church in Sixth 
street, in front of the morgue, and the Alexander avenue 
police station, and along the East River shore opposite North 
Brother Island — wherever the bodies of the victims were laid 
or where news of them could be learned. 

MEANS OF IDENTIFICATION 

On the shore of North Brother Island scores of bodies of 
women and children, of young girls with disordered hair shroud- 
ing their pale faces, and of tiny babies, lay on the lawn cov- 



20 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

ered with sheets or blankets. Here was the body of a mother, 
with the child she had tried to save still clasped in her arms. 
Beside her would be a little form, which the lifted sheet dis- 
closed to be that of a boy, perhaps her son. Only now and 
then could there be any other identification, except by num- 
bers. So there remained nothing for the coroner and the 
police to do except to place a numbered tag upon one body 
after another before it was lifted into one of the wagons and 
transferred to a boat, which bore it to one or the other of the 
city morgues. 

In a paper bag, with its corresponding number, was laid 
away such jewelry or other means of identification as could be 
found. 

"No. 64. Woman. One gold watch. One gold guard 
ring," was a characteristic inscription for one of these bags. 
Piled one above another in a basket, which followed the 
coroner on his rounds, the bags accumulated in increasing 
numbers, as the first estimates of the loss of life had to give 
way to what at first had seemed to be absurd and exaggerated 
guesses as to the number of victims of the disaster. 

BODIES ARE TAGGED 

Trip after trip was made by the Massasoit to the morgue 
at the foot of East Twenty-sixth street, but at nightfall so con- 
stantly were the bodies being lifted over the sea wall to their 
temporary resting places beneath the trees of North Brother 
Island that there were as many as ever to be disposed of. 

When a few more than one hundred bodies had been 
recovered and the task of numbering and tagging them was 
well under way, it seemed that the end was in sight, though 
there were still hundreds of persons to be accounted for. 



THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 21 

Many of the bodies had already been taken aboard the Mas- 
sasoit, and mournfully the watchers admitted that the near-by 
waters held no more of the dead — the missing must have been 
buried in the hull of the ill-fated steamboat when she sank off 
Riker's Island. 

DEAD IN EACH OTHER'S ARMS 

But about this time a small boat, which had been lying to 
off the spot where the Slocum had first grounded, was pulled to 
the sea wall with the bodies of two little children clasped in 
each other's arms. So strong had death fastened their hold 
upon each other that together they were lifted into the boat, 
and still with arms interlocked they were brought to the shore. 

Soon other bodies began to come to the surface. Other 
small boats went to the rescue. A couple of tugs for hours 
continued steaming about the spot where the hundreds of 
unfortunates had plunged into the water to save themselves 
from death by fire. Again the force of hospital attendants 
and policemen was called to the work of lifting the bodies 
from the water, as the boats brought them near enough to 
shore so that outstretched hands could reach them. 

MANY IN THE SUNKEN HULL 

And so the work went on until more than one hundred 
bodies had been recovered, after it had been hoped that the 
river had already given up the most of its dead — after the 
watchers and workers had sighed with relief that the worst 
was over, except for the recovery of bodies from the hold of 
the sunken vessel. 

All the while men in search of wives, children or sisters 
were picking their way from one covered form to another, and 
as a face was uncovered and the sheet turned back upon it 



22 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

there was renewed hope that after all those sought might be 
saved, or at the worst were only suffering in one or another 
of the hospitals. 

PITIFUL SCENES 

Now and then a search was sadly rewarded. A man would 
be seen to fall upon his knees beside one of the forms under 
the trees, but it was seldom that one could hear more than a 
stifled groan. Most pitiful of all was the grief of one who 
found not one but two or three of his family among the dead, 
as happened on several occasions; for many a man was left 
not only a widower but childless when the General Slocum 
blazed and sank. 

Early in the morning boats were still patrolling the section 
of the stream where bodies might be found, and though fewer 
Vv^ere recovered as the search continued, the work was by no 
means finished. It was days before there was any certainty 
that no bodies remained to be given up by the river. 

THE TRAGEDY NOT EXAGGERATED 

At the first the scope of the Slocum disaster was underesti- 
mated, and the awful truth as later revealed seemed almost 
impossible of belief. Bodies of men, women and children who 
embarked on the boat on the fatal morning of June 15th, were 
recovered hourly from the charred sunken wreck and from 
the water along the shores of North Brother Island. Others 
were washed ashore on the Manhattan side all along the river 
front. The captains of the various precincts had men patrol- 
ling the water front from the Battery to Bronx Kills to look 
out for these bodies, and even on the Astoria shore there was 
a long line of policemen watching the beach for what the 
waves might wash up. 



THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 23 

As the bodies vv^ere recovered they were taken to North 
Brother Island, where they were laid out, numbered and the 
valuables removed, and then sent on one of the city's boats to 
the temporary morgue in the Charities Pier at the foot of East 
Twenty-sixth street, whose floor was covered with long rows 
of the dead in rough pine coffins. 

THE SEAT OF GRIEF 

Throughout the city there was mourning, but the seat of 
grief lay in a wide section of the lower East Side, centering 
about St. Mark's Lutheran Church, in East Sixth street, in 
which the majority of the victims lived. As quickly as the 
bodies were identified at the morgue by families or friends, 
they were removed to their homes, and in this section there 
was scarcely a house without its somber sign of mourning at 
the door. There were few persons in the streets, which pre- 
sented the appearance they might have on a quiet Sunday. 
Life there seemed at a standstill. When the survivors left 
their houses it was to go to the morgue or to the church 
itself, where a bureau of information had been established, to 
ask for tidings of the missing; for in many families more than 
one went to death on the General Slocum; in many instances 
four or five, in some as many as nine, from a single household. 
In a block of sixteen houses, eight were counted with flags 
draped with crape at half mast. 

SCHOOLS IN MOURNING 

Superintendent Maxwell, of the Board of Education, after 
receiving a report of the pupils of the school who went on the 
ill-fated excursion, ordered that the graduation exercises in 
the lower East Side schools be abandoned and that memorial 
exercises be held in their stead. 



24 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
AN INVESTIGATION SET ON FOOT 

Mayor McClellan, Commissioner McAdoo and Dr. Dar- 
lington, who were in the places where they were most needed 
immediately after the holocaust, were busy the following day 
seeing that the best arrangements under the circumstances 
were made to handle this unlooked-for situation. 

The Mayor at once began making a careful inquiry as to 
the causes of the disaster. The District Attorney set on foot 
an investigation, and Secretary Cortelyou, of the Department 
of Commerce and Labor, left Washington to take a hand in 
fixing the blame. 

FINDING MORE BODIES HOURLY 

With dawn there was no diminution in the activity of the 
workers on North Brother Island. Divers of the dock depart- 
ment made descents into the wrecked hold of the Slocum. 
They reported that there were still many bodies burned 
beyond recognition in the waist of the boat, where the victims 
were buried when the superstructure and the upper decks, 
their supports burned away, collapsed and carried all the 
excursionists in that part of the boat into the seething hull. 
Divers Rice and Russell, who worked in the hull with only 
small intervals for rest two day and nights, reported that they 
could not tell what number the dead amidships would reach. 
Diver Rice recovered eighteen bodies and most of them were 
so burned and mutilated as to make identification a fortunate 
chance. 

THE SEARCH CONTINUED 

The word "Hope" was engraved in the ring of a pretty 
woman whose body was received at North Brother Island. 
The early light glinted upon handsome solitaire diamond ear- 
rings, a diamond ring and a costly pearl brooch that testified 



THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 25 

practically to some one's devotion to the woman whose body 
had been rescued. From midnight until dawn the workers 
rested. 

A woman of thirty-five, a man of thirty, a little boy of eight, 
and a girl of seven were brought from the waters when rescue 
work was resumed. Then came the body of a baby of ten 
months. Working with grappling hooks, the men continued 
the search all day. 

THE CURIOUS TURNED AWAY 

Boat after boat of morbidly curious came to the island. 
They were ordered away by the police. Two piles of coffins 
stood near the scarlet fever hospital — the one for children and 
the other for adults. 

River men said that many of the bodies would be washed 
down the river and would not come to the surface for days. 
The tuberculosis patients who exposed themselves in the 
rescue work of the day before, and whose lives were thereby 
endangered, were found not to have suffered. The physicians 
said that the treatment at the island had protected them. 

LIFE BELT DROPS TO PIECES 

With a small portion of a rotten life preserver about her 
neck, the body of a woman was brought ashore at North 
Brother Island. There was every evidence that the life pre- 
server had been so rotten that it fell from her in pieces. 

Volunteer workers came willingly to the aid of the officials. 
Fully fifty small boats brought crews of citizens who assisted 
in the search for bodies. 

Seeking souvenirs of the disaster, half a hundred rowboats 
came to North Brother Island. The persons in them started 
to take bits of clothing and any other portable relic. Dis- 
gusted, the police drove the ghouls away. 



26 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

It having been decided that Coroner Berry should conduct 
the inquest, the latter, assisted by a staff of clerks, at once set 
about issuing subpoenas. He wishea to obtain the testimony 
of as many adult survivors as possible, and of all who were in a 
position to throw any light upon the destruction of the Gen- 
eral Slocum. He believed that the investigation before him 
should be as thorough as possible. 

THE WORK OF THE CORONER 

In the following words Coroner 0'Gorman,who waived his 
right- to conduct the inquiry, summed up an important part of 
his first day's labor on North Brother Island and around the 
wreck of the Slocum: 

"Evidence before me so far indicates an appalling failure 
on the part of the crew of the General Slocum to assist the 
helpless passengers during the tragic half hour. I have exam- 
ined eye-witnesses of the disaster, none of whom remembers 
to have seen any efforts made by the crew, although the wit- 
nesses themselves were among those to risk life in rescue 
work. Standpipes for the fire hose, taken from the wreck 
to-day, show that on the side of the boat farthest away from 
the flames no attempt was made to use the fire-fighting appa- 
ratus. Valves are found unturned and caps are still in place. 
There is nothing to show that the crew did not look out for 
itself alone. Only one member appears to have perished, and 
that one was a steward." 

Early on Thursday the coroner called before him the crews 
of the tugboat Wade and the Franklin Edson, the island 
ferry. Blistered paint and woodwork on both boats show 
where they were while the fire raged, and of each member of 
the crew the coroner asked what work, if any, was done by 
the crew of the Slocum. 



THE COUNTRY HORRIFIED 2; 

TESTIMONY OF EYE-WITNESSES 

Following this he called before him the staff of the North 
Brother Hospital corps, including every one from Dr. Stewart 
to the humblest orderly. Physicians and nurses, as well as 
patients who had risked their lives wading and swimming out 
into the swift tide, were asked to tell of their observations. 
Not one of them could relieve the impression first produced 
by the testimony. 

At the wreck the coroner had John M. Rice, a diver 
employed by the department of docks, busy at work collecting 
the silent evidence of standpipes, reels, nozzles and the like. 
Rice had not been working an hour on the starboard side of 
the boat aft of the paddle box when he came up with a section 
of a standpipe, the cap of which had not been removed. 

"•It shows that no attempt whatsoever was made to attach 
the hose," was the official comment. 

Later in the day Rice brought up another standpipe twelve 
feet long, on one end of which was a wheel valve. Burnt 
shreds showed that a hose had been attached to this pipe, but 
further investigation showed that the valve had never been 
turned. Then, too, came a reel with shreds of unbound hose, 
and a nozzle which had not been removed from its place. 

A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION 

George B. Cortelyou, Secretary of Commerce and Labor; 
George Uhler, Supervising Inspector General of the Steam- 
boat Inspection Service, and Robert S. Rodie, Supervising 
Inspector for the Second District, met and discussed the 
disaster of the General Slocum and mapped out the pro- 
gramme of the Federal investigation. The conference was 
held in the Supervising Inspector's office, and to Secretary 



28 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOA!' HORROR 

Cortelyou, who had arrived from Washington a few hours 
after the catastrophe, Mr. Rodie told the circumstances and 
result of the calamity. As far as possible the details of the 
disaster were gone over and the causes which led to the loss 
of life thoroughly canvassed. President Roosevelt took a 
keen interest in the inquiry by the federal authorities. Before 
Secretary Cortelyou left Washington he had a long conference 
with the President, who ordered that the investigation be 
made most searching and thorough. 



CHAPTER II 

A DAY OF BRIGHT PROMISE 

The Boat Starts — An Eager Crowd — An Ideal Day for a Picnic — Big Family 
Parties on Board — "Our God Is a Mighty Fortress" — Hell Gate Passed 
— The First Burst of Smoke — "Warning Whistles from Passing Craft — 
Children Thought the Fire Alarm a Joke — The Captain Heads for the 
Shores of North Brother Island — Hemmed In by Fire — Mothers Fight 
for their Children Like Wild Beasts. 

The General Slocum spent Tuesday night at the foot of 
Fiftieth street. It started around the battery at about seven 
o'clock Wednesday morning. The crew of twenty-seven men 
were aboard. It reached the foot of Third street in the East 
River, where there is a pier, at about twenty minutes past 
eight o'clock. 

CROWD EAGER TO 60 ABOARD 

There were several hundred excursionists already on the 
pier when the Slocum arrived. There were mothers full of 
pride in their lusty German-American babies, and full of 
anxiety for fear some of them would fall overboard in their 
anxiety to get on board the Slocum before anybody else did. 
A band came and went to the after deck and began booming 
out melodies dear to the German heart. 

PASTOR SEES THEM GO ON BOAT 

The mothers and children kept pouring across the gang 
plank and scurrying for good places about the decks. The 

29 



30 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Rev.'G. C. F. Haas and his assistant, the 'Rev. J. S. Schultz, 
stood on opposite sides of the gang plank and welcomed the 
mothers and the Sunday school scholars. 

Policemen Kelk and Van Tassel, full of experience in the 
handling of Sunday school excursions, took posts on the off 
side of the steamer, ready to dive after any child who by 
mistake should fall overboard. 

It was as fine a day for a picnic as ever dawned. The sun- 
light made the blue water seem as bright as though it lay any- 
where but between the piers of the biggest city of this nation. 
The ugly factory walls were set off by masts and flags, and big 
boats and little boats seemed rather to be skittering over the 
river for their own amusement than for any purpose of sordid 
profit. 

BIG FAMILY PARTIES THERE 

The excursion was late in starting. Lutherans are great 
folk for going to family picnics in big family parties. Greta 
and Wilhelmina and August's wife gather from the corners of 
Manhattan and Brooklyn and bring all their children to com- 
bine their luncheons, so that it shall be served to ten or fifteen 
hungry mouths in proper proportions. And if any one of the 
whole family circle was late, then all the rest went to Pastor 
Haas and besought him by all that was dear and sweet not to 
let the boat go until sister and her little ones came. 

Pastor Haas was good natured, and it was well along 
towards ten o'clock when the Slocum started, the band on the 
upper deck playing "Ein Feste Berg 1st Unser Gott." 

DAY ONE OF BRIGHT PROMISE 

The children tugged at their skirts, held down by their 
smiling mothers and big sisters and grandmothers, and 



A DAY OF BRIGHT PROMISE 31 

cheered at the departing pier. There was not a chill in the 
air. There was not a cloud on the blue sky. Pastor Haas 
went up and down the decks, and the matrons loudly com- 
municated their congratulations to him. 

Hell Gate, where the tide was rushing out to the Sound 
with the utmost violence, was passed safely. There is not a 
steamer captain in this harbor,*no matter though he be as old 
as Captain Van Schaick, who is not glad when he has passed 
through Hell Gate without a collision and without being 
sloughed out of his course against its rocky sides. 

HIDDEN FIRE ALREADY AT WORK 

Though Captain Van Schaick did not know it, the steamer 
must even then have been on fire. Just back of the crew's 
quarters, up in the bow of the steamer, under the main deck, 
is what is called the second cabin. 

On the Slocum this cabin has been used as a sort of store- 
room. Spare hawsers were kept there, and paint and oils. 
Gasoline was kept there, and it was there that Albert Payne, 
a negro steward, kept the ship's lamps when they were not in 
place, and cleaned and filled them. 

LAMPROOM OPEN TO INQUIRY 

Payne, his face all ashy with the horrors he had been 
through, stated, upon oath, that he finished cleaning all the 
lamps before the boat left the dock at West Fiftieth street, 
and that he had not been in the room except to see that 
everything was all right. 

Along the Astoria shore, where there are many yards for 
the building of small boats, the trouble was known sooner 
than it was on the steamer itself. As the Slocum passed 



32 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Broadway, Astoria, John E. Ronan, a dock department 
employee, was struck with the gayety of the steamer, with its 
flags, its music, and its load of hilarious children, and called to 
a companion: "Look at the Slocum. Don't it make you hate 
to work when you see a crowd having as good a time as that?" 

FIRST PUFF OF SMOKE IS SEEN 

But a quarter of a mile further on, William Alloway, the 
captain of a dredge, saw a burst of smoke puff out from the 
lower deck of the Slocum just forward of the smokestack. He 
let off four blasts of his dredge whistle. At the same moment 
other boats on both sides of the river began to toot shrill 
warnings. Alloway and his men could see a scurrying on the 
decks of the Slocum. They wondered why Captain Van 
Schaick didn't back his boat right into the Astoria shore. 

"It seemed to me," Alloway said, "as though he was having 
some trouble with his wheel, and as though it wasn't minding 
it, and as if he could not get his signals into his engine-room. 
But, anyway, he went right ahead." 

LONG IN REALIZING DANGER 

From the first understanding of the situation which could 
be gained from those who were left alive when everything 
was over, it was quite a while after the Slocum was first found 
to be on fire that the seriousness of the situation was under- 
stood by all of the officers and crew. Few of the passengers 
knew anything of the real danger they were in until the burn- 
ing and drowning had begun. 

Eddie Flannagan was the Slocum's mate. On excursion 
steamers the safety and comfort of the passengers are 
delegated to the mate, while the captain is in the pilot house 
properly, while the boat is in motion. 



A DAY OF BRIGHT PROMISE 33 

To Flannagan there came a deckhand and Steward 
McGann. He caught Flannagan by the shoulder and said: 

MATE WARNED OF FIRE 

"Mate, there's a fire forward, and it's got a pretty good 
headway." 

Flannagan jumped down through the dark space in the 
middle of the boat and turned the lever of the fire drill alarm. 
He sent McGann to warn Captain Van Schaick. The crew 
was not enough to handle so many passengers. 

BURNS THROUGH DECKS 

The fire crackled up through one deck after another, lick- 
ing out far on the port side. There was a rush for the stern. 

Some of the children thought the whole alarm was a joke 
and laughed and pummeled one another as they ran. The 
mothers didn't. They lumbered after, trying vainly to keep 
hold of some one garment on the bodies of each one of their 
youngsters. 

FIRE DRILL PROVES FUTILE 

Captain Van Schaick ran back from the pilot house and 
saw that Flannagan had two lines of hose run from the 
steamer's fire pumps toward the second cabin, and that the 
water was already spouting through them. The fire drill on 
the Slocum was always well done. It was held without any 
requirement of law once every week. But this fire was 
beyond any mere fire drill. It took Van Schaick only a min- 
ute to see that he ought to get his passengers ashore as soon 
as ever he could. He determined on the shore of North 
Brother Island. 

It takes time to read of all these things. It took almost no 
time at all for them to happen. The yells and screams of the 



34 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

few people who were caught on the decks below the hurricane 
deck forward were ringing horribly across the water. The 
roar and crackle of the oil-fed flames shut these screams off 
from the frightened mass of Sunday school people aft. 

Kelk and Van Tassel had leaped into the crowds when the 
fire gongs rang. It was due to them that more women and 
children were not caught forward of the fire. They herded 
the people back like sheep until nearly the whole company 
were huddled together on the broad after decks. 

FIRE HEMS IN THE CROWDS 

The fire was eating its way back steadily. The people 
were getting more and more frightened. Mothers whose chil- 
dren had been separated from them in the rush were getting 
frantic, and dashing madly through the crowd. Confusion 
grew almost as fast as the fire at the other end of the boat 
was growing. Van Tassel took to the rail side of the boat. 

POLICEMAN DOES HIS BEST 

"Now everybody keep quiet," he shouted again and again, 
waving his big arms reassuringly at women who were grasp- 
ing the rail and already leaning over and trying to make up 
their minds to jump. 

Pastor Haas had found his wife and his twelve-year-old 
daughter Gertrude and had put them near the back of a com- 
panionway, where he was sure he would find them. He, too, 
tried to calm his people. 

He might as well have tried to calm the whirling tide that 
was bearing the burning steamer along to its end. They were 
fighting now. Mothers who had started side by side with an 
endless fund of sympathy for domestic difficulties, were fight- 
ing like wild beasts. 



A DAY OF BRIGHT PROMISE 35 

Screams came from the water. A woman looked over and 
saw three children floating by on the starboard side. The 
head of one of them was covered with blood where a blade of 
the paddle wheel had wounded it. 

WOUNDED CHILD IN WATER 

The woman screamed just once, so loud that for a moment 
all the other horrible sounds of the boat seemed hushed. 
She pointed a finger at the little bodies that were floating back 
from the forward decks. 

"Frieda!" she screamed. "Mein Frieda!" 

MOTHER LEAPS TO HER DEATH 

Before a hand could have been raised to stop her, if, 
indeed, there was any one there cool enough in that moment 
to raise a hand, the mother jumped on the seat and threw 
herself over the rail. She sank, whirling over and over in the 
swift current. So did the children. 

But other bodies came. As the flames worked upward and 
backward more and more people were being driven to jump 
to escape being burned. 

Mercifully, the pilot house, away forward and up in the air, 
was in a position which the flames found it hard work to 
reach. The captain and his pilots were able to keep steer- 
ing. 

It seemed to be the captain's purpose as he came up past 
One Hundred and Thirtieth street to try to find a berth on 
the Bronx side of the stream. There are a number of coal 
and wood yards along there and some factories. River men 
said that he might well have carried out his plan. The land 
forces of the fire department could have reached him there. 
But he said that a tug warned him off, telling him that he 



36 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

would only be setting fire to the shore buildings, and would 
not be helping his people in the least if he ran in there. 

TUGS CHASE AFTER BLAZING BOAT 

At any rate the Slocum, observed now by hundreds of hor- 
ror-dazed people on both sides of the stream and on the 
islands, turned again toward North Brother Island. Steamers 
and tugs from far down stream were making after it. The 
department of correction boat Massasoit was on the far side 
of North Brother Island. Its captain lay in wait for the 
Slocum, not knowing through what channel it would come. 
From down stream came the slim white Franklin Edson, the 
health department boat. 

Thence, too, came the sturdy little Wade with its great- 
hearted little captain, Jack Wade. There came also the tugs 
Theo and Easy Time, tooting their whistles, headed for the 
burning steamer. 

BIG BOAT A SCENE OF HORROR 

On board the Slocum horror was being piled on horror too 
fast for any one to keep track of them. The fire leaping now 
high above the frame work of the steamer's hog back and 
roaring with a smoky glare of red tongues up thirty feet over 
the tall brown smokestacks, had begun to scorch the edges of 
the compact mass of women and children who were crowding 
back out of its way at the rear end of the boat. 

"The first I knew," said one of the survivors, a young 
woman, "was when I heard a cry of 'Fire!' raised. We heard 
a wild scramble of feet overheard and saw a little cloud of 
smoke curl upward. I asked a man, who was in a near-by 
stateroom hurriedly putting a lot of money into a small bag, if 
there was any danger. He assured us there was none at all, 



A DAY OF BRIGHT PROMISE 37 

but he took his money and hurried away. I since learned that 
he was the purser. 

RUSH TO THE STARBOARD SIDE 

"All of a sudden everybody seemed to be rushing toward 
the starboard side of the steamer. When the starboard rail- 
ing of the second deck gave way, hundreds of women and chil- 
dren and a few men fell into the water, which was black with 
human forms packed so densely that we might have stepped 
out and walked over them as on a floor. Most of them seemed 
to be paralyzed with fear the moment they struck the water 
and made hardly any effort to save themselves from 
sinking. 

"Unless they were strong swimmers there was nothing to 
save them after they reached the water, for there was not a 
single one in that mass of humanity that had a life belt. 
These were so high overhead that they could not be reached 
in a hurry, and besides, were fastened with strong wires. I 
tugged at one for a long time, but to no purpose, for it broke, 
and I found then that it was filled with ground cork instead 
of with the solid cork, which I have been told is required by 
law. Others must have had the same experience, for the stuff 
was scattered all over the deck. When the tug Sumner came 
up they threw a rope to my father, and we jumped together, 
holding on to the rope, and were pulled on board the tug. 

THE PREACHER A HERO 

"Pastor Haas showed himself a real hero, and received 
most of his injuries while seeking to save a number of children 
whom he had ushered into the cabin to protect them from the 
flames which were then rapidly eating their way toward the 
stern. He tried to close the forward door to shut off the 



38 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

flames from where the little ones were. The door would not 
budge, and Dr. Haas was terribly burned in the effort. The 
next moment I saw him rush toward his wife, who was stand- 
ing near the railing, and jump overboard with her hand 
clasped in his. I noticed another woman fall on top of them, 
which made him lose his hold, and that was the last I saw of 
the pastor and his wife." 



CHAPTER III 

HARROWING DETAILS 

No Chance for Rescue — Into the Racing Tide — Writhing Figures in the 
Burning Wreckage — Ablaze from Stem to Stern — The Captain and 
Pilots at their Stations — A Heroic Coxswain — Brave Jack Wade — 
Fireboats Sound the Alarm — A Boy's Brave Fight — The Burning 
Hulk Sinks — Refuse to Lend a Helping Hand — Over Four Hundred 
Dead on North Brother Island — Divers Begin the Search for Bodies 
— Statement of the Pilot — Sad Features. 

The greater number of these people by far were on the 
Bronx side of the decks. They seemed to feel, poor crea- 
tures, that, small as their chance for rescue was, when it came 
it would come from the thickly populated shore rather than 
from the bleak, rocky, bare spaces on the islands on the star- 
board side. 

The Slocum was now opposite One Hundred and Thirty- 
eighth street, heading partly across the river towards North 
Brother Island. 

PEOPLE ON SHORE HELPLESS 

On the contagious diseases landing the fire fighting 
force of the island, under the direction of Superintendent of 
Outdoor Work Doorley, was drawn up, with two lines of heavy 
hose connected with the island's salt water pumping station. 

To have gone to them, according to men who are familiar 
with the run of the tide along there, would have been worse 
than useless. The getting of the boat's broadside against the 

39 



40 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

stream, they say, would have whirled it helplessly out into the 
stream. 

WHAT THE SPECTATORS SAW 

But as they watched and waited, this is what the onlookers 
saw: 

With a crack and a choking volley of screams that set on 
edge the teeth of men hardened to almost any form of death 
or evidence of pain, the port rail of the Slocum's after deck 
gave way and all the people near it slipped and slid, over one 
another, into the water. 

VICTIMS POURED INTO THE RIVER 

It had hardly gone 200 yards further on — indeed, by ones 
and threes and twos and sevens gayly-dressed women and 
little ones all in white were seen whirling down from the deck 
into the racing tide — when worse came. 

The steamers and tugs in pursuit were catching up one 
woman here or a child there, but it was not much they could 
do. The tide was too swift and there was too much work to 
be done ahead to warrant any delay over individuals. 

DECKS FALL INTO THE FLAMES 

There was a puff like a great cough down in the Slocum's 
vitals. A red, starry cloud of sparks, and smoke, and angry 
flames shot up and the greater part of the superstructure aft 
plunged forward into the flames. 

How many hundreds of lives were snuffed out in that one 
instant nobody will ever know. Outsiders could see writhing, 
crawling figures in the burning wreckage, slipping down 
farther and farther into the flame whirl until they were gone. 
As bees cling along a branch when they are swarming, there 



HARROWING DETAILS 4i 

was a thick clustering of women, all screaming, and boys and 
girls around the edges of so much of the superstructure as was 
still standing. 

HURLS INFANTS TO SAFETY 
Farthest back, Kelk, the policeman, was standing, catching 
up some of the smallest children and hurUng them out at the 
decks of the nearest following steamers. Mothers threw their 
children overboard and leaped after them. When the stan- 
chions burned out and the superstructure fell, families were 

spnarated. 

Thus it happened to Dominie Haas. He had given up as 
hopeless any effort to get the people quiet, and had ]ust 
found his wife and daughter. The crash came and he lost 
them. 

STEAMER NEARLY ALL ABLAZE 

Now the big steamer, ablaze for more than two-thirds of 
its 250 feet of length, was rounding the point of North Brother 
Island. The flames were reaching out for the pilot house. 
The door toward the fire was blackened here and there and 
the paint blisters were bursting with little puffs of fire. But 
the hundred nurses and the tuberculosis patients— all the 
others had scarlet fever and other contagious diseases and 
were kept indoors-gathered eagerly on shore waiting a 
chance to help, saw old man Van Schaick and his pilots at 
their wheel straining forward as though by their own physical 
efforts they could make the boat go faster. 

It was at no moment certain that the pilot house would not 
shrivel up and vanish in a puff of smoke. If it did, the Slo- 
cum would never get close enough to the shore to make it 



42 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

possible for help to be given to the passengers who were still 
living. 

SAILORS BENT ON SINGLE PURPOSE 

And the two old men and the younger, with never a look 
backward, whirled their wheel and braced it, and, with their 
teeth set close together and never a word, kept their eyes 
fixed on the one little stretch of rocky beach where it was 
possible for a steamer as big as the Slocum to be beached 
accurately and safely. 

They succeeded in the fight that they had been making all 
the way from the sunken meadows, where the Seawanhaka was 
beached years ago. Captain Van Schaick was past the 
sunken meadows before he knew that he had a fire on his 
boat, and the tide was too strong to let him turn back to 
beach it there, even had there been any way of rescue out 
there in the middle of the river. 

SWIMS TO THE RESCUE 

The Massasoit, which was the closest boat behind the Slo- 
cum when it struck, drew so much water that it was impossible 
to get its bow within fifty feet of the Slocum. It made no 
difference to Carl Rappaport, the coxswain. He took a 
running jump forward over the bow and swam toward the 
burning steamer. Like a big red-headed St. Bernard he 
grabbed two babies and swam back to his own boat. 

Meantime the captain of the Massasoit was putting boats 
overboard as fast as he knew how. When these were out, 
picking up people from the water wherever they could, Rap- 
paport was floundering around helping from the water side. 

The Franklin Edson, with its new, clean coat of white and 
gilt paint, drew less water than the Massasoit and went right 



HARROWING DETAILS 43 

up to the Slocum's side so that people jumped from the burn- 
ing decks and w-^re dragged back to safety. For safety was 
not on the forward deck of the Edson. It needs a new coat 
of paint. The forward windows were cracked by the heat 
and there are marks of the flames on the forward thirty feet 
of its superstructure. 

JACK WADE THE HERO 

Jack Wade, master and owner of his little tug, was pitch- 
ing his life preservers over, turning loose his boats, and push- 
ing up so close to the burning decks that the hair on his 
brawny arms frizzled, and his men, John McDonnell, Ruddy 
McCarroll, and Bob Brannigan, had their shirts burned off 
their backs. It was not worth while afterward to attempt to 
get this crew to tell how many lives it saved. They had been 
too busy to count. 

RUDDY McOARROLL IS USED UP 

Ruddy McCarroll was plainly beaten out for the first time 
in his life. The effort which finished him was getting a heavy 
German woman over the side single-handed. When she was 
aboard she began to scream. Ruddy laid himself out flat, face 
down, along the rail, and was sure he was going to die, he was 
so exhausted. He heard the fat woman say: 

"Wake up! You, wake up!" but he didn't know she was 
talking to him. 

"There is my Claus in the water!" she screamed. Without 
more ado she shoved Ruddy overboard. He floundered 
around, caught the boy, and managed to get aboard again. 
The fat woman grabbed Claus and started down the boat with 
him. Ruddy shook his head with a look that was almost a 
smile, and then fell on his face in a faint. 



44 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
FIRE ALARMS RINQ ON SHORE 

Along the shore as the burning steamboat had come along 
the stream on the breast of the tide, fire alarms had been 
rung. One alarm at the foot of One Hundred and Thirty- 
eighth street was rung three times. There was nothing the 
firemen could do when they came except just one thing, which 
was done at once. The captain of the first company to arrive 
at the river's edge telephoned for the fireboat Zophar Mills. 
It came up the river, screaming, with a voice that outscreamed 
all the other whistles which were being blown in every factory 
and yard from which the blazing steamship could be seen. 

The captain of the Mills saw that the Slocum was beached 
and that rescuers were more needed than pumpers of water. 
He ran into One Hundred and Thirty-eighth street and took 
aboard Captain Geohagan and all the reserves of the Alex- 
ander avenue station and took them over the river to help in 
the work of picking people out of the water from rowboats 
and tugs. There is a big marble works opposite North 
Brother Island. The boss, when he saw the Slocum, knocked 
off all work and sent his 150 men across in any and every sort 
of a craft that they could lay their hands on. 

GOOD WORK DONE 

Even though relieved by these evidences — but one or two 
out of hundreds that happened unrecorded — of the working 
of good and brave human hearts, the misery and the horror 
were going on almost undiminished. The great hulk was still 
burning like a furnace on top of the water. Living men and 
women were still rolling out from the decks. Hundreds 
sought shelter from the heat under the paddle boxes, which 



HARROWING DETAILS 45 

seemed slow to burn. In there, among the wet paddle blades, 
the rescue boats were filled again and again. 

BOY TRIES TO CLIMB FROM FIRE 

Long after every one had given up any idea that there was 
a human life in the forward part of the boat, except those of 
Captain Van Schaick and his two pilots, there was a shout of 
surprise and agony on shore. 

A small boy — he seemed about six years of age — climbed 
up to the flagstaff and began to make his way up, as though 
to get away from the deck, which was burning under 
him. 

He climbed a little higher and a little higher with each 
jump of the tongues of flame from below until he was almost 
at the top. He was a sturdy looking little chap, and each 
time he found he had not gone far enough he would shake his 
yellow curls determinedly and work his way a few inches more. 
It was a brave fight. He lost it. 

The flagstaff began to tremble just as a boat was getting in 
position to get at the child. The staff fell back into the float- 
ing furnace and the boy with it. 

PHYSICIANS DO GOOD WORE 

As fast as the dead and living were brought ashore the 
weaker of the convalescent patients took them and carried 
them up on the lawn. There was a constantly increasing 
number of physicians coming over from the mainland, some of 
them in rowboats. Every burnt woman or child who showed 
any signs of life was carried into the buildings. The nurses' 
quarters and the doctors' quarters and the stables and every 
place that had a roof where cots could be erected was filled — 
except those in which there were contagious diseases. 



46 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
DEAD LAID ON THE GRASS 

The dead were laid out in long rows on the grass. The 
living walked or were carried by them. Heart-rending recog- 
nitions were there, women throwing themselves on the bodies 
of their children, children catching at their mothers' hands 
and begging them to "wake up," and screaming inconsolably 
when they realized that there would be no waking up. 

There was too much to be done at once for any list to be 
kept of those who were rescued. The Rev. Mr. Haas was 
pulled out of the water, in which he had fallen soon after the 
boat beached, and found not to be badly injured. But it was 
more than an hour before he could be found and identified. 

HARDLY ANY COULD SWIM 

One reason for the heavy loss of life ascribed by those who 
assisted in the work of rescue was the apparent inability of all 
the passengers of the Slocum to swim. Scores were drowned 
within a few steps of firm footing. Not a few were drowned 
who might have saved themselves by standing up. Captain 
Van Schaick and his pilots and all the rest of his crew except 
Steward McGann and Chief Engineer Conklin swam ashore 
without much difficulty after they once got safely into the 
water away from the flames. 

HULK TOWED OUT OF WAY 

When the Zophar Mills' commander was satisfied that there 
was no more chance of saving any lives he ordered that the 
burning hulk be got out of the way. With the help of several 
of the other tugs it was yanked out into the stream and 
floated, ablaze from stem to stern, over to Hunter's Point, a 
mile away, where it grounded again and burned to the water's 



HARROWING DETAILS 47 

edge and sank, with its yellow smokestacks tilted over to the 
south and one of the big yellow paddle boxes visible. 

WRATH FOR COLD-BLOODED CRAFT 

There was great wrath expressed by all the people who 
watched the steamboat's blazing progress up the river because 
of the actions of one or two of the craft which did not go to 
the rescue. The captain of the ferryboat Bronx, which 
crossed from One Hundred and Thirty-fourth street, right 
under the stern of the Slocum, without going close enough to 
catch any of those who were jumping from its decks, got a 
great share of the blame. Then there was a steam yacht 
which bobbed along within a cable's length through almost all 
of the Slocum's pitiful journey, and never once went close 
enough to lend a hand. The same accusation was made 
against a black steam yacht with yellow funnels. 

DEAD IN WORTHLESS CORE JACKETS 

On many of the bodies which were recovered were life 
preservers, which seemed to have been perfectly worthless. 
Assistant District Attorney Garvan's attention was called to a 
collection of the Slocum's life preservers which had been 
made by Captain Jack Wade. These life preservers were 
covered with such flimsy stuff that they could be ripped open 
by a scratch with one's thumbnail. They were filled with 
ground-up cork, instead of with solid chunks, which would 
retain their buoyancy. Captain Wade, who threw $100 worth 
of really good life preservers to the Slocum's passengers, was 
highly indignant over the matter. 

STEADY WORK RECOVERING BODIES 

The work of recovering bodies went on steadily from the 
time when all hope of saving more lives ended. Nearly a 



48 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

hundred policemen, assisted by men from all the hospitals and 
morgues, went out in small boats and waded out and worked 
from the shore and from the decks of the tugs with grappling 
hooks, dragging up all that was left of the victims of the 
disaster. The bodies of some of those who were burned were 
in indescribably horrible condition. 

BODIES TOWED BEHIND ROWBOAT 

In the rush and confusion there were many things which in 
the face of a disaster less appalling would have shocked the 
sensibilities of the most hardened man who witnessed them; 
such, for instance, as the sight a newspaper tug encountered 
on one of its trips across to North Brother Island, a rowboat, 
with two men at the oars, and a small boy, who was holding a 
line by which were towed the bodies of three women, dressed 
all three in flimsy white dresses. Nobody was to blame. The 
boat would have been swamped with the three bodies inside. 

OVER 400 DEAD ON ISLAND ALONE 

Two hours after the disaster 436 corpses had been recovered 
at North Brother Island. Fifty had been recovered at other 
points. They included a dozen that had first been landed at 
Oak Point. More were coming in at the rate of twenty an 
hour. The police of the harbor squad, assisted by volunteers, 
were wading and rowing about the shore, picking them up 
with grappling hooks. So numerous were the corpses that 
early in the evening bodies were recovered at the rate of one 
a minute. 

All the boats used by the police and other workers were 
equipped with lanterns. In addition lights were hung on 
poles that had been stuck in the mud along the shore of the 
island. The police boat patrol stood by constantly with a big 



HARROWING DETAILS 49 

searchlight playing on the waters. The employees of the hos- 
pital rigged up temporary lines of incandescent lights along 
the lawn to aid those at work in tabulating and searching the 
bodies. 

THE BODIES SEARCHED AND PHOTOGRAPHED 

As soon as the bodies were taken from the water they 
were laid in groups of four each. They were first tagged and 
then searched. All jewels, papers, and valuables taken from 
the bodies were thrown into huge bags. Each batch of valu- 
ables taken from a body was tagged with the number cor- 
responding to that on the body. 

After the searching and tagging of the bodies had been 
completed, photographs were taken of the groups of four; 
this was done by the use of flash lights. 

The first photograph was taken at eight o'clock at night. 
It was a group of four, consisting of a woman and three chil- 
dren. The bodies were stretched out along the lawn with the 
heads propped against the wall of the scarlet fever hospital. 

It was also decided to send all the valuables taken from 
the dead to the office of Coroner O'Gorman at One Hundred 
and Seventy-seventh street and Third avenue. 

BODIES ALL GOING TO ONE PLACE 

Commissioner McAdoo first proposed the scheme of send- 
ing all bodies to the morgue at Twenty-sixth street, where 
arrangements had been made to turn the big charities depart- 
ment dock into a temporary morgue. 

Mr. McAdoo explained that the bodies would then be 

brought nearer to their homes, and could thus be more easily 

identified. Coroner O'Gorman readily assented to this plan, 

Ithough it took the cases out of his jurisdiction in the 



50 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Bronx and transferred the bodies to the authorities in Man- 
hattan. 

DIVERS COME TO RESCUE 

At seven o'clock Wednesday night a Merritt-Chapman 
wrecking tug, with full crew and three divers, reached North 
Brother Island. The wrecking crew and two of the divers 
had come at the call of Commissioner McAdoo. The other 
came over in a boat and offered his services. He was John 
Rice, who went to Boonton, N. J., and brought the body of 
Bill Hoar to the surface, when others had failed to do so. 
Rice was gladly welcomed, and, joining the others in the 
wrecking crew, hurried to the charred and sunken steamer to 
recover the bodies fastened in and about the wreck. 

POOR LIGHT IMPEDES WORE 

Word was sent back by them some time later that the work 
would be difficult, owing to lack of light. It was also stated 
that the single wrecking tug was hardly able to cope with the 
situation, and Commissioner McAdoo decided to summon 
more help. 

He then telephoned to the authorities at the Brooklyn 
navy yard asking if they would help out, and received word 
back that a powerful navy tug, fitted up with searchlights, 
would be dispatched to the scene immediately. 

NAVAL RESERVES CALLED ON 

Commissioner McAdoo had already called on the First 
Battalion, New York Naval Reserves, to come to his assistance. 
Commander Franklin, who received the message, sent two 
launches, the Oneida and Seneca, in command of Lieutenant 
Barnard and full crews made up of picked men from the New 



HARROWING DETAILS 51 

Hampshire, lying at the foot of East Twenty-fourth street. 
Commander Franklin ordered these men to report to Com- 
missioner McAdoo, and they did so as soon as they reached 
North Brother Island. 

One of the launches was sent to aid the harbor police in 
the recovery of bodies from along the shore and the other was 
used as a ferry between the island and the foot of East One 
Hundred and Thirty-sixth street. 

Dr. Darlington, president of the health board, arrived early 
in the afternoon and was still seen superintending his men 
and hustling with his coat off at midnight. Coroner O'Gor- 
man was also still there at that hour. 

DIVERS QUIT WORK ON WRECK 

At eleven o'clock Wednesday night Diver John Rice 
returned from the wrecked steamer with four bodies of chil- 
dren. They had been found in the afterhold of the vessel. 
Rice said that the divers had decided to make no more 
descents into the wreck, as it was plain to them that their 
labor would be useless. 

"We searched the forward part of the boat," said Diver 
Rice, "and could find no bodies. The ship had settled down 
with a crash in the middle and we couldn't explore that part. 
I suppose there are a lot of bodies there, but the wreckers will 
have to get in their work before any one can get in the center 
of the vessel. 

"The wrecking crew are going to work on that part and 
they say that if necessary to clear it they will split the boat 
in two parts. We divers will go out in the morning 
again." 



52 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
ALL THE ROPES WERE BURNED 

Edward Van Wart, the pilot of the General Slocum, said: 
"When I first discovered the presence of fire on the 
steamer I decided to make for the first dock that I could find, 
but in a moment I was informed that all the ropes by which 
we usually tied up had been burned. I then decided to make 
for the first point of land where there were no rocks and 
beach the vessel, and this I did. The presence of rocks all 
along the shore made it impossible for me to beach the vessel 
any sooner than I did." 

Van Wart was taken before Coroner Berry and was 
paroled in the custody of his counsel. 

THE BEST CITIZENS 

Said Police Commissioner McAdoo: "The saddest and 
most pitiful thought in regard to this disaster is that it fell 
upon the very best citizenship in the community — the indus- 
trious, frugal, peaceful, well-behaved people of German origin. 
There are no better people in New York, and it was pathetic 
to look at the new shoes, the neat, tidy and attractive dresses, 
the articles of jewelry, the savings bank books. The maternal 
and paternal affection so strong in these people was shown in 
the many bodies found together with locked arms. 

NEW YORK YACHT CLUB DEFENDED 

Members of the New York Yacht Club were considerably 
annoyed at the reports that a yacht flying the flag of the club 
had passed the General Slocum when the fire was at its 
height, and had made no effort to assist in rescuing the 
passengers. 

The boat under discussion proved to be the Candida, and 
the following letter was issued by its captain: 



HARROWING DETAILS 53 

"We arrived from the eastward at the scene of the wreck 
just as the Slocum was beached, about 10:10 a. m. Our life- 
boat was lowered at once, and sent in charge of the mate to 
save lives. He proceeded at once to pick up those people 
who were hanging on under the starboard paddlebox. 

"When the boat was loaded she transferred the people to 
the tugs and other large craft which surrounded the wreck. 
Our boat remained at this work for more than an hour, and 
when it became apparent that no more effective work could be 
done by this boat, about 11:30 a. m., as the wreck by this time 
was surrounded by craft of all descriptions, she returned to 
this vessel. 

"The fact that the yacht was hove to while the lifeboat was 
doing the work of rescue evidently led certain persons to think 
that this vessel rendered no assistance. The log of this ves- 
sel will prove this statement, and is open for inspection at any 
time." 

GHOULS AT WORK 

Charges were made that after the burning of the Slocum 
there was wholesale robbery of the dead in the river, by a 
gang of men who put out from points on the Long Island 
shore in boats. Robert Brandt, of Brooklyn, while protesting 
at the morgue about a pair of diamond earrings which were 
missing from the body of Mrs. Margaret Zerdes, said: 

"I know positively that when Mrs. Zerdes went to that pic- 
nic she had on a very handsome pair of solitaire earrings. 
They were of the hanging sort. I took the number given me 
by the morgue officials to the coroner's office in the Bronx and 
they turned over a wedding ring to me, nothing else. They 
said they had no other property belonging to Mrs. Zerdes. 



54 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Unless these diamonds were stolen from this woman's ears 
they would not be missing. 

"I have made some inquiries about what happened about 
the wreck, and I am informed that when the river was full of 
bodies a number of men put out from College Point in small 
boats. Some of these men, I am told, were seen taking 
jewelry from the dead and then passing the bodies along to 
other boats, which took them ashore." 

USELESS FIRE HOSE 

On the day following the disaster a great deal of evidence 
touching the origin of the fire, and the conditions which pre- 
vailed on board the boat, was collected by Coroner O' Gorman. 
Several feet of the fire hose of the General Slocum was recov- 
ered from the wreck by one of the divers. The hose was 
burned at both ends and on a fold in the middle, as though it 
had never been unreeled. 

Former Fire Marshal Freel, who examined the section of 
hose, said that while it might serve its purpose if an attempt 
had been made to use it in the case of the Slocum, it would be 
seriously defective if the hose had to be used at any consider- 
able range. He said: 

"The rough weave of the canvas on the inside causes a 
considerable loss of force at the nozzle on account of the fric- 
tion with the water. Roughly, in such hose as that the loss 
due to friction would be about fofty pounds to a hundred feet 
of hose. The hose is porous also and leaks somewhat. That 
is, it 'sweats,' causing a further loss of power, until the fiber of 
the hose swells and makes the coating thoroughly impervious 
to water. That would take about ten minutes." 



HARROWING DETAILS 55 

STEEL WIRES ON THE BOATS 

From the sunken vessel one of the starboard steel lifeboats 
was also brought up. The boat was still attached to the 
davits, to which it was lashed by steel wires instead of ropes. 
The boat was crumpled up in the middle, as if it had been 
paper, and great gaps had been sprung in its bow, but boat- 
men say it would have been serviceable if it had ever been got 
into the water. 

STORY OF FIRE'S START 

Charles H. Lang, who used to be a lifeguard at Coney 
Island, said the General Slocum was on fire between Fiftieth 
and Fifty-fifth streets. As a result of his statement made to 
the police at the Information Bureau, he was summoned to 
appear before the coroner. 

Lang said he was on the upper deck with his wife, his 
brother-in-law and sister-in-law and his five-year-old son when 
two of the crew came on that deck and told another deck- 
hand, in his hearing, that there was a fire on board. Lang 
said he looked at the Manhattan shore and knew the boat 
was between Fiftieth and Fifty-fifth streets by the brewery he 
recognized. He gathered his family together, told them 
something was wrong and got them to a place on the boat 
where the crowd was small. 

Just above Eighty-eighth street he saw an officer of the 
boat come on deck and tell two deckhands there was a fire on 
board. Lang and his family knew how to swim and all 
escaped save his cousin, Amelia. 

TO REASSURE THE PUBLIC 

Everything indicated that steamboats carrying passengers 
in New York harbor and neighboring waters would come in 



56 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

for a rigid reinspection by the federal officials, in spite of the 
opposition of Robert S. Rodie, supervising inspector of this 
district. Mr. Rodie's devotion to the rules and regulations of 
the department was weakened apparently by the disclosures 
concerning rotten life preservers and inadequate fire-fighting 
facilities since the Slocum disaster happened. He declared 
repeatedly that he saw no necessity for another inspection of 
the excursion vessels and that none would be made unless 
upon the written application of the owners or masters of the 
boats. 

OTHER BOATS TO BE INSPECTED 

His attitude aroused the city officials, who felt that the 
people would never be satisfied until assured in the most posi- 
tive manner that every excursion steamer, barge and ferry 
boat was properly equipped for the protection of life in case of 
an accident. 

The following letter was sent to Secretary Cortelyou by 
Mayor McClellan: 

"The awful calamity which has befallen the city in the loss 
of the lives of so many hundreds of its inhabitants while on 
board the steamer General Slocum in the Sound on the 15th 
instant, impels me to invite your attention to the propriety of 
an immediate inspection by the United States government of 
all passenger carrying boats in the waters adjacent to New 
York City." 

COULD NOT USE THE HOSE 

W. E. Ortman, who had charge of the icecream stand on 
the Slocum, said that he was near the wheel-house at the time 
the fire became known. He saw several of the crew trying to 
fasten the hose to the standpipe. After much difficulty they 



HARROWING DETAILS 57 

succeeded in doing so, but the threads on the hose were so 
worn that when the water was turned on the hose at once 
fell off. 

"I then saw," he said, "that the boat was doomed. I 
noticed a man standing on the ledge which runs around the 
wheel-house, and I got out there with him. A woman was 
standing beside him. Finally he jumped, but made no effort 
to save the woman. I finally jumped off and managed to keep 
my head above water until I was picked up by a tug." 

MORGUK HELPER INSANE 

Driven insane by the long strain of his work among the 
bodies of the victims of the General Slocum, Walter Watson, 
twenty-nine years old, one of the attendants at the morgue, 
was found wandering aimlessly about the streets, the morning 
after the disaster, by a policeman. He was stumbling along 
with vacant eyes, and occasionally broke forth into incoherent 
mutterings which were like this: 

"I can't identify that body. Take it away. Bring me 
another one. No, I can't identify that, either. Take it away." 

Schneider took him into custody, and he was later sent to 
the psychopathic ward of Bellevue. The physicians there 
found that he had been at work steadily in the temporary 
morgue on the Charities Department pier from the time the 
bodies began to arrive till Saturday night, when he disap- 
peared. 

NUMBER OF DEAD UNDERESTIMATED 

Dr. Darlington, health commissioner, who went to the 
morgue to see how the work there was advancing, reiterated 
his previous statements that the number of dead would eventu- 



58 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

ally be found to be much larger than now was apparent. Dr. 
Darlington said: 

"In explanation of what to the uninformed might seem to 
be so high an estimate, the fact should be remembered that 
most of the bodies recovered near North Brother Island were 
at the northerly end of the island. People began jumping or 
were thrown or pushed off when the steamer was at the 
sound end, and there was a continuous stream of unfortunates 
going into the water long before the steamer was beached. 
Few of these have been found. 

"In the last tvv^o days it has been learned that aboard the 
steamer were many young women — most of them domestics — 
who had not been long in this country. Though they had 
been attending St. Mark's Church, there is no certainty that 
they were sufficiently well known to have been reported as 
missing." 

IDENTIFIED BY WEARING APPAREL 

Alfonse Ebling went to the morgue looking for the bodies 
of his wife and his son, George, five years old. The identifi- 
cation of his wife's body was made from pieces of wearing 
apparel and jewelry. When directed to the box containing 
the body Ebling threw himself across the box and wept. He 
repeated his wife's name again and again and called to her to 
return to him. Finally he fainted. Two policemen carried 
him away. When he revived he returned to the coffin. 

RATHER DROWN THAN BURN 

In a family in Seventh street a little girl is now alive 
because of what one of the victims of the accident — a man — did 
before he perished himself. Grabbing the little girl, whose 
dress had already caught fire, he said: 



HARROWING DETAILS 59 

"I would rather see you drown than burn to death." 
Fortunately neither of these alternatives proved to be the 

fate of the little girl, for when she struck the water she was 

seen by the crew of a tugboat and pulled out. 

SUPPLY OF COFFINS RUNS SHORT 

Another sad feature revealed by the visitations was the dis- 
covery that because of the great demand made upon East Side 
undertakers the funerals were delayed, and coffins could not 
be furnished fast enough. In one of the homes so distressed, 
a funeral had been arranged. The mourners all collected and 
were sitting in the rooms adjoining the little parlor, but had 
to be informed in the end that the funeral could not take 
place. 

a: sad feature 

It was a noticeable fact that the homes of the victims of 
the accident were generally neat and comfortable, typical in 
many ways of the care of the German housewives, in some 
instances lying dead in the rooms they took so much pride in 
keeping tidy. In one of these little homes on Fourth street a 
very aged woman sat alone beside the coffin in which lay her 
only sister. 

The dead woman had for years been employed as gov- 
erness in a family up town. She had taken her charges, three 
of them, to the excursion and perished with them. Although 
the family in which she had served so long had begged the 
privilege of burying the governess, the sister, though living 
alone, would not consent, and there she sat alone with her 
body. 



6o NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

HOPED IN VAIN 

It was Otto Harnes, a twelve-year-old lad, who declared 
that among those he saw on North Brother Island after he 
swam ashore were his brother Herman, eighteen years old, 
and Rosa Wallace, a golden-haired little girl of eleven years, 
who lived at 214 East Eleventh street. 

"Rose was my only child," said Mr. Wallace, "and was one 
of the prettiest little girls in this neighborhood. I hired a 
boat, and went to North Brother Island and inquired for her, 
but could find no trace of a child answering her description. 
A search of the hospitals was just as fruitless. 

"Of course, I fear she is among the dead, but I cannot keep 
from hoping that maybe after all Otto really did see her, and 
that eventually she will be returned to me." Later, the 
bodies of both the children were found. 

AN ENTIRE FAMILY GONE 

On the top floor of a tenement sat Fred Diehl, with several 
friends who were trying to soothe his grief over the loss of his 
entire family — his wife and three children. When any one 
knocked at his door Mr. Diehl sprang up and opened it. A 
look of expectation was on his face, but it gave way to disap- 
pointment when he said, "Oh, I thought it was some one 
bringing them to me." 

He told who his missing ones were and then said, "I have 
almost walked my feet off looking for them, and I can't find 
a trace of a single one. If this keeps up much longer I shall 
go crazy. I walk through the house and at every step a pain 
goes through my heart. 

"There are their schoolbooks, just where they left them^ 
I open a closet door and see their clothes, and I have to turn 



HARROWING DETAILS 6i 

away. I cannot believe that they will never return. Oh, they 
must come back! This is just a bad dream I am having, and 
soon I shall awake to find my wife and the little ones about me 
just as they have been in the past." 

WENT WITHOUT PERMISSION 

Willie Keppler had gone on the excursion without his par- 
ents' permission. He said he had first learned to swim at the 
foot of Pike street. So when he saw the fire on board the 
Slocum he shouted to two other boys who were with him, 
telling them they had better jump overboard and swim around 
until a boat picked them up. Keppler, who was on the hurri- 
cane deck, dived overboard. 

"'As soon as I hit the water," he said, "I started to swim 
out toward the center of the stream, but the tide was so strong 
I went back five strokes every time I took one, so I made up 
my mind that I would not tire myself out, so I jist turned over 
on me back and floated. That's what we used to do down at 
the docks. You see, if a fellow wants to stay in the water 
longer than some one else, he must jist hold back his 
strength. 

"So while I was a-floating they were a-jumping over the 
side of the steamer. Twenty would jump at once, and right 
on top of 'em twenty more would jump. Then there would 
be a skirmish of grabbing at heads and arms, and the fellows 
what could swim would be pulled down and had to fight their 
way up. Two women who got near me shouted for me to 
help them, and I tried to, but they were too big, and I had to 
break away to save meself. When I was in the water about 
half an hour they pulled me on a tugboat and chucked me 
up on the dock. I was so scared that I might git a licking for 



62 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

going on the excursion without being let go that I stayed up 
in Harlem and slept in a park. Yesterday when I picked up a 
newspaper I saw me name among the missing, so I thought 
I'd come home and git the licking instead of breaking me 
mudder's heart. So I'm home, and me mudder only kissed 
me and me fadder give me half a dollar for being a good 
swimmer." 

LOST HIS MOTHER 

One little white-headed chap spent all day sitting on the 
stoop of his home, in Sixth street, waiting for the return of 
his mother, whose name was among those of the missing, 
"But I really don't think she will come back," he said, 
"because the last time I saw her she was standing beneath the 
place where the deck fell. I tried to get her to jump over- 
board before that, but she wouldn't because she had my sister 
with her. A big woman knocked me away from her, and I 
was thrown into the water. As a big man put me on the shore 
I looked around, and could not see mamma because the deck 
had fallen down." 

CITY DECIDED TO RAISE THE WRECK 

The owners of the General Slocum having refused to raise 
the wreck, claiming that it was the property of the insurance 
companies, the city decided to undertake the task in order to 
facilitate the recovery of any bodies that might be buried 
beneath it, and for the obtaining of any physical evidence that 
may throw light upon the cause of the disaster. The cost of 
raising the wreck was approximately $12,000, and by Mayor 
McClellan's action Police Commissioner McAdoo was author- 
ized to contract for the work at that price. 



CHAPTER IV 
HEROIC RESCUERS 

Bravery of the Nurses-Florence Denning Saves Seven Women-Other 
Heroines-The Bravery of a Switchboard Girl-A Courageous Irish 
Girl-Iashed to the Burning Steamship— Flannery the Hero-Heart- 
Rending Appeals for Aid-Tugboat Men to the Eescue-The Awful 
Death of Three Little Babies-Two Men Save Sixteen Persons-Saves 
His Sweetheart-An Eleven- Year-Old Boy Shows Great Presence of 
Mind— Van Tassel the Intrepid Policeman. 

It was through the heroic work of persons employed on 
North Brother Island, including physicians, nurses and order- 
lies, that many of the passengers on the General Slocum were 
saved. Even the patients in the tuberculosis hospital, though 
weakened by disease, rushed down to the beach as the victims 
were struggling in the water and aided in the rescue. 

A DARING DEED 

One of the bravest feats accomplished was that of Miss 
Florence Denning, a nurse in the tuberculosis hospital, who, 
aided by the other nurses, rescued seven women whose lives 
would have been lost but for her courage and the fact that she 
was a strong swimmer. 

Miss Denning was standing on the east shore of the island 
when she saw the General Slocum, with flames shooting from 
her sides, pass by. Passengers were then jumping overboard 
m large numbers. Miss Denning, realizing that many persons 
were losing their lives, plunged into the water and swam with 

63 



64 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

all her strength toward them. Though hampered by her 
clothing, the young woman did not cease her work, swimming 
to the shore and back again until seven women had been 
saved by her. She then sank exhausted on the beach. 

Though the other nurses could not swim, they boldly 
waded in the water to receive the unconscious victims brought 
to them by Miss Denning. The nurses who made it possible 
for Miss Denning to accomplish so much were Miss Martha 
Rutledge, Miss Eleanor Wrenn, Miss Hattie Walker, Miss 
Lamb, Miss Anna Lay, Miss Sloan, Miss S. C. Wolfstenholm, 
Miss Atkins, Miss Florence Rhodes and Miss E. Smith, Mrs. 
White, the matron, also assisted in the rescue work and later 
assisted in caring for the injured. 

GIRL SAVES TWO BABIES 

Miss Lou McKibbin, a young woman who operates the 
telephone switchboard on the island, when she learned that the 
Slocum was on fire, immediately telephoned to the police head- 
quarters and then, throwing down her receiver, rushed to the 
shore. Seeing two babies floating near by, she plunged into 
the water and rescued them. The babies proved to be a little 
boy six months old and a girl somewhat younger. 

One of the first persons on the island to see the burning 
vessel was Dr. McLaughlin. He immediately leaped into a 
boat and, rowing out, rescued four or five women. One of 
these was Miss Alfreda Rebenklau of 28 Eldert street, 
Brooklyn. 

PHYSICIANS USE BOATS 

Drs. Lord, Weihman, Herowitz, Cannon, Algeson and 
Watson, who are stationed on the island, also leaped into 
boats and rescued many women and children, and in the work 




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HEROIC RESCUERS 65 

the physicians were assisted by the male nurses and orderlies 
several of whom swam to the struggling passengers and held 
them up till the boats arrived. In all about sixty persons were 
saved in this way. 

Miss Mary McCann, a ward helper who came to this coun- 
try from Ireland less than a month ago, proved herself one of 
the most courageous of all of the brave persons about her. 
She swam out to where the helpless passengers were strug- 
gling four times, each time bringing back some drowning 
person. 

Dr. McLaughlin, in describing the destruction of the boat, 
said the upper deck seemed to suddenly collapse and disap- 
pear. In his opinion no less than 150 persons fell with the 
deck and lost their lives in the fire. 

SAVES SCORES OF LIVES 

The following description of the scene aboard the burn- 
ing General Slocum was given by Captain Flannery of the 
tug Walter Tracey, who lashed his vessel to the burning 
steamship and took off 200 passengers. 

"Until my dying day I will hear the anguished cry that 
went up as I cut loose from the burning boat," he said. "I 
stuck until my pilot house was afire. Then I cast loose and 
followed my men, leaning over the gunwales and grabbing at 
the children as they floated by in the river." 

Captain Flannery and his men worked aboard the Slo- 
cum until the heat burned their shoes. His story of the 
panic and the work of rescue and the manifold horrors of 
death by fire and drowning is the most complete and graphic 
of the actual participants in the disaster. After landing his 
200 passengers in Port Mori is, he said: 



66 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

"The Slocum was going through Hell Gate when I found 
that she was in distress and steered for her. I reached her 
side before any other craft and found that she was on fire. I 
ordered my men to lash us alongside and then we began the 
work of taking off the frantic children. 

"It was terrible work, and my heart fails me now as I think 
of it. The little ones seemed to have lost all reason, and their 
cries and screams will echo in my mind for years to come. 

CHILDREN REMOVED TO TUG 

"I Stayed alongside just so long as I could. It was getting 
hotter and hotter every moment, until the deck boards burned 
through the leather of our shoes. We didn't think of that at 
the time, however, and it wasn't until the flames burst from 
our pilot house that I gave the order to sheer off. 

CRIES OF TERROR AND DESPAIR 

"The cries that went up from the Slocum as we backed 
away were expressions of utter despair and terror. 

"We extinguished the flames which had attacked the pilot 
house and continued through the Gate after the Slocum. 

"As the children began to leap into the water I ordered all 
hands to catch them as they floated past. 

MANY CHILDREN TAKEN OFF BY BOATS 

"Every man on the boat that could be spared helped in 
this work of rescue. We could only make one grab for each 
body, for the reason that there were so many bumping that 
we could not devote our time to any particular one. To see 
the faces of those little ones, who drifted by struggling against 
death, but just out of our reach, was agony to every one of 
us. It was almost as great suffering for us as it was for 
them. 



HEROIC RESCUERS 67 

"We followed until the Slocum ran into water that was too 
shallow for our depth. 1 then ordered away several small 
boats and they succeeded in taking off loads of children. All 
those recovered by us were unhurt, so far as I could see. 

"The scenes on board the Slocum as I came alongside 
were too horrifying for description. The little ones were run- 
ning hither and thither, uttering heart-rending cries and 
appeals for aid. We could only do our best at helping the 
unfortunates, although it made a man feel like a criminal to 
to think that he could not save every innocent life on 
board." 

FIFTY WOMEN AND CHILDREN RESCUED 

Rescue work of a courageous nature was done by Henry 
Rock, captain of the tugboat Franklin Edson, which is used 
to transfer patients to North Brother Island, and by Charles 
Johnson, the mate. The tug boat was lying at the foot of 
East One Hundred and Thirty-sixth street when Captain 
Rock saw the blazing steamboat pass by. 

Quickly throwing off the lines which held the Edson to the 
pier, the captain rang for full speed and started for the Slo- 
cum. Running close alongside the blazing vessel, the crew of 
the Edson succeeded in rescuing fifty women and children, all 
more or less burned, and also recovered the bodies of nine 
women and a child. 

So intense was the heat as the tug lay alongside the Slo- 
cum that her paint was blistered and her woodwork caught 
fire several times. Anticipating the danger before them, the 
crew of the Edson had uncoiled the fire hose of the boat ready 
for an emergency, and as fast as the woodwork caught fire it 



68 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

was extinguished by the deckhands, who kept a stream play- 
ing continuously from the hose. 

HEAT WAS UNBEARABLE 

The heat was almost unbearable, but Captain Rock and his 
crew worked with desperate haste until they were forced to 
draw away or lose their lives and those of the passengers they 
had rescued. The members of the tug's crew expressed sur- 
prise that the captain of the General Slocum had not beached 
the steamboat before he did. They declared he could have 
run the vessel ashore on Manhattan Island, but instead pro- 
ceeded farther up toward the Sound. 

Another tug, which steamed up to the burning vessel and 
succeeded in recovering nine bodies, was the Margaret. All 
the bodies were those of women. 

A SAD STORY 

Lucy Hencken, fifteen years old, of 169 South Second 
street, Brooklyn, who lost her mother and brother, told the 
following thrilling story of her experience: 

"When the fire started I was sitting with my mother in the 
rear of the boat. My brother was on one of the lower decks. 
As soon as we saw the smoke and heard the cries of 'fire!' my 
mother asked me to go below and find my brother. When I 
got down the stairway I found the crushed bodies of three 
little babies, who had been trambled upon in the terrible 
scramble. They were all still living, and I carried them up to 
my mother and put them on her lap. Then I went below 
again to find my brother. I saw him for a moment, and then 
he was swept away from me in the surge of men and women 
who were rushing from the flames. 

"I succeeded in getting back to the upper deck, but when 



HEROIC RESCUERS 69 

I went to look for my mother and the three babies I had 
rescued, they were gone. With my mother and brother gone 
from me I didn't want to Hve any longer, so I jumped in. As 
I was going down a man on the tugboat Theo caught me with 
a boat-hook and dragged me on the deck of the boat." 

HEROIC WORK OF TUGMEN 

A tugman named Olsen and his partner, Andersen, jumped 
into the water and brought to the side of the tugboat Arnott 
eight persons, six women and two children. Three of the 
women were unconscious. 

Olsen saw three children, not more than six years of age, 
floating near the shore. Jumping overboard, he rescued two. 
Holding their heads out of the water with his left arm, he used 
the right in swimming to the shore, where they were lifted to 
the bank by willing hands. Returning to the other child float- 
ing in the water, Olsen swam with it to the island. Although 
greatly exhausted, Olsen returned to the Arnott and was 
pulled aboard. Three times the tugboat caught fire from the 
flames from the Slocum. 

YOUNG MAN SAVES SWEETHEART 

"I was sitting on the lower deck with Miss Swartz when 
the fire started," related Henry Iden. "We had smelled 
smoke for about four minutes, but thought it came from the 
kitchen, where clam chowder was being cooked. 

"Suddenly I noticed persons on shore waving their arms 
and I could hear them shouting. Then came the fire. I got 
two life preservers and put one on Miss Swartz and another 
on myself. 

"We crowded to the rail and stayed there until the boat 
went aground, when over we went. The fire was so hot that 



;o NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

I kept ducking Miss Swartz under water every minute or so, 
and did the same myself. After a while we were pulled 
aboard a tug." 

The faces of both Iden and Miss Swartz were blistered. 

BOY SURVIVOR SAVES THREE GIRLS 

Some of the survivors of the awful tragedy tell thrilling 
stories of their escape from the jaws of death. 

George Gray, aged thirteen years, of 309 East Fourteenth 
street, told the following story of his experience: 

"I was sitting on the rear of the upper deck with my two 
friends, Otto Hans and Albert Greenwall. The boat was just 
passing out of Hell Gate and going toward an island when I 
smelled fire. 

"I said to Otto and Albert, 'Hey, boys, there's a fire,' and 
we jumped up on a seat and tried to pull down some life 
preservers. 

"A lot of them were rotten and all the cork came out of 
them. Women and children around us were yelling some- 
thing awful. While we were pulling at the life preservers a 
big cloud of smoke and flame came right up out of the center 
of the boat. Then the boat seemed to stop and the women 
began jumping overboard, and I saw some of them throw their 
babies in the water and jump after them. 

PASSENGERS JUMP FROM THE STEAMER 

"After the fire came up all around the deck the boat got 
started again, but the people kept jumping over. There were 
not any tugboats near us then, but soon I saw a lot coming to 
us. I was afraid to jump over, and got Otto and Albert to 
stay with me. 



HEROIC RESCUERS 71 

"We all had got life preservers for ourselves and for three 
little girls, whom we held on to when they tried to jump. 

"While we were working getting the life preservers the 
tugs were coming at us fast, but all back of us in the water I 
could see men, women and children going down. Most of 
them couldn't swim at all, and went right down as soon as 
they jumped over. 

"The first tug that came to us was the Director. It was a 
big boat and came right up near us as we were going toward 
the island. 

"I jumped on to the boat, and then a whole crowd of 
people jumped on top of me. Half of them that jumped on 
the boat fell into the water between the side of the tug and 
the steamer. 

RESCUES A LITTLE GIRL 

"Pretty soon there were so many on her that her rear end 
was way down in the water and her bow way up in the air, but 
they kept jumping and slipping into the river and going down. 
I got a hold of a little girl's leg who was falling over, pulled 
her up and sat on her so as to keep her from being pushed 
over. 

"As I was on the boat I saw a man on the upper deck take 
a baby and throw it into the water. The baby's hair was all 
on fire and she fell into the water near the tug and a man 
jumped over and got her and brought her on to the Director. 

"As the tugs came around the boat everybody that was left 
tried to jump on them, and they jumped on top of each other, 
lots of them rolling off the decks of the tugs into the water. I 
saw a lot of young girls swimming tov/ard the island who were 
picked up b}'' rowboats. 



72 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

"I saw two little girls who hadn't life preservers on, but 
who could swim, sink when a wave made by one of the tugs 
rolled over them. The women and kids couldn't hear the 
shouts of the men who had come on the tugs to rescue 
us. 

"I saw about ten men jump overboard long before the tugs 
came and not one of them could swim. They were shouting 
for help and they all went down. After the Director had so 
many on her that I thought she was going to sink or turn 
over, she steamed for the New York shore, where we got off 
and a few were taken in wagons to the Elevated Rail- 
road." 

SAVES HIS GIRL FRIEND 

John Tischner, aged eleven years, of 404 Fifth street, 
another survivor, described his experience and his rescue as 
follows: 

"I was down on the lower deck with Ida Wousky, fourteen 
years old, who lives in the same house with me. We were 
eating ice cream when the flames burst out right near us. 
Everybody seemed to be yelling 'Fire!' and I saw a lot of 
women with their hair and dresses burning jump into the 
water long before any boats came near us. 

"My friend, Ida Wousky, was going to faint, but I kicked 
her on the shins and waked her up. Then I got a lot of life 
preservers, most of them rotten, and after a long time I got 
one on Ida. 

"The tugs were coming near us then, and I told her to 
jump. She wouldn't jump and I pushed her over. Then I 
jumped in the water myself and I got hold of her hair and 
held her up until the tug came and we were pulled out." 



HEROIC RESCUERS 73 

TUG'S MAD RACE 

An exciting incident of the disaster was the attempt of the 
White Star Towing Company's Goldenrod to overhaul the 
flaming steamer after a hot pursuit. 

"I sighted her coming up back of me about One Hundred 
and Thirty-second street," said Captain Hillery, of the 
Goldenrod. "I had the schooner Allison in tow. As she 
swept past me, I cast my schooner and put on all speed after 
the Slocum. She went like the wind. I only got to her after 
she had driven her nose into the sandbar at North Brother 
Island. 

"Head first, sidewise, any way, hitting the rail, the deck, 
the water, men, women and children hailed down upon my 
decks from the Slocum's lower and middle decks. The crew 
and myself began to pass them to the stern. With eighty-five 
maimed and crippled, either aboard or hanging to the bow, I 
put for the Bronx shore. 

"Back I ran, and with eighty-five more I raced for the New 
York shore. On the third trip the flames had eaten so far aft 
that I got but fifteen or twenty. I counted two hundred in all 
that I landed." 

WORKHOUSE HEROES 

Two of those who performed heroic duty in the deathwake 
of the General Slocum were John Merther and Dan Casey, 
prisoners in the workhouse on Riker's Island. 

They sighted the burning vessel coming around Light 
House Point of North Brother Island, and without stopping 
to get permission of their guards launched a boat beached 
near at hand. Dr. Broder, of the workhouse staff, joined 
them. They were among the first to reach the burning 



74 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

steamer. Going in almost to the blazing hull, they began the 
work of rescue. 

Two trips to the shore and a record of thirteen dead and 
five living did they achieve before a collision with a fireboat 
wrecked their boat. 

WHAT TWO STEVEDORES DID 

Two stevedores were unloading lumber when the Slocum 
swept by ablaze. As the steamer passed within two hundred 
feet of the lumber-yard these men saw her port-rail forward 
give way before the awful pressure of the panic-stricken crowd, 
and hundreds of women and children fell into the water. The 
paddle-wheel beat down upon them and they were seen no 
more. 

The two stevedores ran to the yawl hanging on the davits 
of one of the schooners, cut the falls, rowed her over to North 
Brother Island and got close as possible to the burning Gen- 
eral Slocum. It was so hot under the lee of the fire that they 
had to jump overboard to keep their clothes from burning off. 
Each of them was scorched and blistered on face, head, neck 
and hands. But they saved more than thirty lives and they 
were happy. 

'T'll never forget the horrors we saw," said one of these 
heroes. "We were among the first to get near the General 
Slocum, for we started before she was beached. There were 
so many women and children in the water that we could 
hardly dip the oars without striking a head. 

"We picked up women and children by the hair. If they 
were alive we drew them into the boat; if not, we let the dead 
drop back in the water to wait until we had rescued the 
living." 



HEROIC RESCUERS 75 

THROUGH FIRE AND WATER 

Mention has been made before of the splendid heroism of 
the employees of the hospital on North Brother Island. Not 
only men, but women unhesitatingly risked their lives to save 
those of others, and none were braver than the women nurses 
in charge of the wards set apart for the treatment of con- 
tagious diseases. Living almost isolated, as they do, many of 
the nurses have become expert swimmers, and several of these 
women struck boldly out from the shore and rescued many 
lives, while others stood in the river and aided struggling vic- 
tims to gain the land. So intense was the heat, while they 
worked to save drowning men and women, that except in such 
an emergency they would not have thought it safe to remain 
within a hundred feet of the spot where the vessel was blazing. 

But in spite of the heat there stood in the shallow water 
near the shore until the boat was lifted by the tide and drifted 
away into the main channel more than a score of men, and 
here and there a woman, who gave no thought except to the 
work they were called upon to do. 

As a body was carried toward them they grasped it and 
passed it to the sea wall, where others stood ready to lift it to 
the bank. Small boats found ready hands to aid in lifting out 
the rescued and to speed the craft again to the side of the 
floating furnace. 

In the beginning of what was the end for so many, a fev^ 
had saved themselves by springing across a gangplank which 
was thrown from the vessel toward the shore, but while some 
thus saved themselves more were pushed from it before they 
had more than touched foot to it, so great was the rush made 
by the panic-stricken excursionists. 



76 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

A BRAVE POLICEMAN 

Van Tassel, the gallant policeman who worked so bravely 
saving women and children, was only stopped from his rescue 
work by utter exhaustion. 

"I was detailed for duty on the General Slocum," said Van 
Tassel, "and when the fire broke out I thought only of the best 
way to save the children. 

"I stood on the outside of the rail, passing the children into 
the tugs and trying to keep order. Every time I saw a little 
face turning its pitiful appeal to me I thought of my own two 
children at home, and struggled harder than ever to save 
them." 

The heroic policeman worked at his life-saving on the out- 
side of the rail, which was the only thing that saved his life 
when the deck fell. 

After he had been there for what seemed ages to him, he 
felt a terrible blow on the back of the neck and fell uncon- 
scious into the water. 

"I thought it was the deck that struck me, but people who 
saw say that it was the body of a big, fat woman who jumped 
from the deck. 

MADE HIMSELF A HUMAN RAFT 

"The water, of course, revived me, and I started for the 
shore. I found that I was too weak to swim, so I turned over 
on my back to float. I was soon surrounded by women and 
children, grabbing at me to save themselves. I called to them 
to keep calm and I would save them. Then I floated into 
North Brother Island with women and children clinging to me 
from head to foot." 



CHAPTER V 

THE SUNKEN SEPULCHER 

A Grewsome Task — Diver Finds Eighty Bodies of Women and Children 
— Pinned Down by Metal and Wood— In the Clutch of the Tide— A 
Shapeless Heap of Dead — Pitiful Forms Crushed by Beams — Bodies 
Floating Rapidly Away — The Work of Rice and Other Divers. 

The following authentic story of the aftermath to the ter- 
rible disaster is told by Diver Charles P. Everett, who explored 
the ruined General Slocum. He found pitiful evidences of 
the [fury of the fire in the charred hulk, many bodies being 
pinioned near the center of the vessel. Mr. Everett was 
engaged by the United States Government in 1898 to explore 
the wreck of the Maine in Havana harbor. 

"With assistants and the crew of the steamer William E. 
Chapman I started for the scene of the disaster. We left 
East Twenty-third street, and I was inside the 175-pound armor 
by 6:15 p. m. The Slocum lay listed at about an angle of 
forty-five degrees to port. Her low side was in twenty-five 
feet of water, her stern in about sixty. 

"Although the parts above water sweltered from the slowly 
dying heat, there was little smoke to impede my work. I was 
commissioned, if possible, to loosen the debris and beams 
which might hold, pent up, any bodies in the hold and to make 

a general survey of the real fury of the fire. 

77 



78 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
INDICATED AN EXPLOSION 

"If I had not known what caused the frightful wreck I 
would have thought an explosion of some character had ripped 
the very bowels from the vessel and torn and lacerated her 
superstructure. The wreck was complete, absolute, and there 
is no use in trying to restore the hulk to any semblance of a 
vessel. The appetite of the fire must have been insatiable 
and probably could never by any human means have been 
curbed unless by just such submersion as occurred. 

"I really dislike to get down to the important part of the 
story. No man cares to hurry the grewsome. Finally, after 
surveying the surface, I vv^ent slowly down into the tomb. 

SIGHT MADE HIM LOSE NERVE 

"While groping about in an endeavor to remove an intri- 
cate mass of wire rail guards from my path, or to plunge my 
way through it, I noticed a section of the hold, on my right, 
sag less than a foot. Immediately the ends of dresses and 
long, slowly moving, disheveled hair floated about from under 
beams and the general wreckage. 

"I was at this time about the middle of the vessel. I 
crawled gingerly through the gloomy, disemboweled section to 
amidships. I thought I had my nerves under control. But I 
had had only a foretaste of the real extent of this calamity, 
which has wrung so many hearts and disrupted so many 
homes. 

"There were at least eighty charred or pitifully distorted 
bodies of women and children in the center of the vessel. Like 
those I had just left, they were nearly all held in the same 
awful embrace of the flames. 

"I finally came to the conclusion, after making many efforts 



THE SUNKEN SEPULCHER 79 

ro extricate the bodies, that nothing but machinery can raise 
ihe shapeless mass of metal and wood that lies between the 
poor victims and human burial. 

SCORES OF BODIES IN HEAPS 

"The shadow of the walking beam — one of the only objects 
protruding above the surface — fell athwart something which 
was held, as in a vise, by a stanchion of what used to be a taff- 
rail. A beam lay on it, and on the beam lay the pitiful little 
frame of a child whose dress was held in the clutches of the 
thing beneath — the mother, evidently. I braced myself for 
what was to come and I peered around. 

"Over on the leeward, or port side, where the debris lay in 
a shapeless heap as the thought of a drunken man, there were 
more things. Oh, a score of them! All caught in that 
implacable, fatal grip supplied by the crunching together of 
beams and stanchions and wooden supports and a thousand 
and one appurtenances of every excursion steamer. 

EXTRICATED SEVERAL CORPSES 

"One by one, so far as I could avoid the obstacles and pre- 
vent my lines becoming tangled in the maze, I tried to extri- 
cate the forms of those for whom mothers, or brothers, or 
sisters were wailing in hospitals or homes. A couple of bodies 
floated free of the tanglewood, but drifted away slowly — like 
the movement of a funeral, I thought at the time — into dark, 
obscure corners of the thing that men used to call a graceful, 
speedy steamer. 

"Some of those waiting mothers and sisters and brothers 
will probably never again see the faces they loved, for the tide 
that swirls angrily around the watery grave is a thing not to 



8o NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

be cheated of its dead. I do not like to become a prophet of 
evil, nor to be mistaken for one. But I will hazard a guess 
that many bodies from which life was crushed in that awful 
tragedy will never again be seen. The tide will swirl them 
away. 

ANGUISH ON VICTIM'S FACE 

"If anybody had told me that the human countenance was 
capable of expressing such deep, unutterable anguish I would 
not have believed him — even if he were endowed with the 
superhuman power to fittingly depict it. I never fully realized 
the profound depth of this mother love until I summoned 
strength enough to peer into the faces that glimmered at me 
fitfully through the waters of the sound. 

"Of those who, wooing pleasure, won death, a small group 
impressed itself indelibly upon my memory. Three children 
and a woman, who certainly was their mother, were pinioned 
against what I took to be part of a cabin detached from the 
whole. 

CLUNG TO MOTHER'S DRESS 

"The children clung to her dress just as if the life was still 
throbbing in their little hearts. But the mother, with a look 
of agony on her face, was kept from grasping the little ones 
by a big piece of iron — probably hurled aft from the machinery 
when the grounding crash came — which lay diagonally across 
her breast. 

"The mangled remains of the General Slocum formed as 
complete a wreck as I have ever seen. I have been asked to 
draw a parallel, if possible, between this disaster and that 
which befell the battleship Maine. Comparison is impossible. 
Had that which overtook the Maine happened to the Slocum 




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THE SUNKEN SEPULCHER 8i 

there would have been no wreck to explore to-day and there 
doubtless would be no list of survivors to print. 

"The vessels are so totally different that no line can be 
drawn to connect the two catastrophes. The Slocum's fate 
was less swift than the Maine's, but the former is irreparable. 

"They tell me I was down in the tomb about an hour and a 
half. That must be a mistake. I was down there a year. 
There must be near a hundred bodies in the wreck." 
WHAT OTHER DIVERS SAW 

John Rice and David Tulloch, divers in the employ of the 
dock department, and Harry Hayer and Albert Blumberg, in 
the employ of the Merritt-Chapman Wrecking Company, 
explored the burned hull of the steamboat, which lay on the 
port side in sixty feet of water. Only part of her starboard 
paddlebox and the smokepipe of her donkey engine were 
above the surface, her big smokestacks having gone by the 
board. 

Before the divers could explore the starboard paddlebox it 
was necessary to tear away part of its covering. It was not 
possible to get into the port paddlebox. Police Commissioner 
McAdoo gave authority to use dynamite, if necessary, to break 
up the wreck, but the divers said the wreck was going to 
pieces gradually. The divers found twenty-six bodies, which 
were taken to North Brother Island in launches before noon, 
and sent with other bodies to the morgue. 

BURNED BODIES FOUND 

After several hours of grewsome toil the divers reported 
to Police Inspector Albertson, at North Brother Island, 
that they had explored the entire wreck, and did not believe 
any more bodies would be found in it. Later, Rice found in 



82 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

the hull a section of the spine and a part of the trunk of a 
boy, apparently eight or ten years old. Close to the paddle- 
box the diver found the badly burned body of a girl, probably 
ten or twelve years old. On one foot was an Oxford tie with 
a spring heel. 

While the divers were working in the waters near the 
shore of North Brother Island, men in boats were dragging 
the bottom with boat-hooks at low tide. In this search 
twenty-five bodies were recovered, mostly by the men in the 
boats. 

PULVERIZED CORK ROUND ONE BODY 

One of these bodies was that of a woman about forty years 
old. Around her neck was what looked like a life preserver 
covering. Coroner O'Gorman found a quantity of pulverized 
cork inside of the woman's waist. He thinks she tried to save 
her life by donning a life preserver, and that it failed to work. 
When Coroner O'Gorman discovered the cork he called Cap- 
tain Dean, of the Harbor Squad, and several reporters to 
see it. 

"I may use this cork in fixing the blame for the death of 
this woman when her body is identified," said Coroner O'Gor- 
man. "She had been cool enough to put on the life preserver, 
and had it been in good condition she might have had a 
chance for her life." 

CORONER O'GORMAN AROUSED 

The ghastly discoveries of the divers stirred Coroner 
O'Gorman deeply. Diver Rice secured a section of one of 
the Slocum's standpipes, which were placed in the steamer for 
no other purpose than to supply water in case of fire. Said 
Coroner O'Gorman: 



THE SUNKEN SEPULCHER 83 

"The section Rice gave me shows absolutely that the crew 
of the Slocum made no attempt to fight the fire. The valve 
was closed tightly. My opinion is that when we get hold of 
the other standpipe its valve will be found closed also. I am 
one of those coroners who have got to be shown. I don't put 
a bit of stock in the pretty tales of heroic fire fighting told to 
the reporters by the crew when it was all over. 

MORE WATERLOGGED LIFE DESTROYERS 

"I found to-day more life preservers, or life killers rather, 
with rotten canvas coverings split, and rotten, granulated cork 
half dribbled out of the place where good, honest, solid cork 
ought to have been. I found several life preservers that had 
been removed from bodies dragged from the bottom of the 
river. These were waterlogged, not burst. 

"The evidence that Rice handed me I sealed up and sent 
to my office in The Bronx. When the people who are 
responsible for criminal neglect, criminal carelessness and 
criminal cowardice come to business with the coroner's office 
they will find an office that won't stand for any bamboozling. 
I may not sit myself, but you can bet every cent you've got 
that I'll make a good witness against somebody. 

QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED 

"Why wasn't that fire apparatus in order instead of being 
absolutely useless? Why was there no fire drill, no discipline 
that would have fought back the flames? Who of the crew 
tried to turn the standpipe valves? Why is it that the per- 
centage of the crew lost is 4 i-3 (one man), while probably 75 
per cent of the helpless passengers died? Why didn't Captain 
Van Schaick take that boat to shore a mile below North 
Brother Island? Why didn't he turn in at at least a half- 



84 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

dozen perfectly safe and easily accessible places? Why were 
the life preservers rotten? Why were the lifeboats not swung 
from their davits into the river when the steamer ran a mile 
and a half from the time fire was first discovered? These 
questions will have to be answered. 

"I've counted 508 dead persons, women and children for 
the most part, and have seen things that made water rats who 
worked with me sick, and I have smoked a cigarette and 
tried to keep a smile going all the time, but when these things 
come to light I get mad all over. That's all I've got to say, 
except this — I like my fiction between the covers of a book." 

CANNON CALLED INTO PLAY 

Toward the end of the search cannon were used to hasten 
the recovery of the Slocum's dead, after the thunderstorm 
brought up many bodies, and many more had been recovered. 
Under the direction of Police Inspector Albertson, dyna- 
mite was also called into pla3^ Sticks of the explosive were 
attached to short pieces of timber to serve as buoys, the free 
ends riding clear of the water, while the dynamite was several 
feet below the surface. The improvised mines were placed at 
intervals of about one hundred yards around the wreck and 
touched off by time fuses. 

Two of the Second Battery's field pieces, in charge of a 
firing squad, were put aboard a railroad float, and in tow of a 
tug conveyed to the wreck. Firing was begun as soon as the 
tug and float cleared the shore, and was continued as the 
journey toward the hull of the Slocum progressed, until thirty 
rounds had been fired. 

Around Riker's Island the floating battery circled. Coroner 
O'Gorman following in a launch. The guns were discharged 



THE SUNKEN SEPULCHER 85 

at short intervals. A turn was made and the float was towed 
past the wreck, until it was abreast of North Brother Island; 
near the pier on the island six rounds were fired. '' 

BODIES COME UP BY THE DOZEN 

With the discharge of the last gun bodies began to appear 
upon the surface. Within five minutes no fewer than sixteen 
rose within a few yards of the coroner's launch, and the crews 
of the patrol boats were kept busy picking them up. Further 
search in the wake of the battery revealed fourteen more 
bodies. Before the firing began a large number of bodies had 
been recovered, and before the Fidelity left for the morgue 
with its first load of dead, the temporary morgue at North 
Brother Island was more heavily stocked with bodies than at 
any time since the day following the loss of the Slocum. 

Rapid progress was made by the Merritt-Chapman Der- 
rick and Wrecking Company in raising the wreck of the Slo- 
cum. The hull was lifted fifteen feet from the rocks on which 
it rested, and the placing of the chains necessary for bringing 
the hulk to the surface was rendered comparatively easy. 
Contrary to expectations, there were comparatively few bodies 
released when the wreck was lifted from the bottom. Only 
Uwo bodies, both those of women, were found beneath the 
paddleboxes, terribly disfigured. 

IDENTIFICATIONS MADE RAPIDLY 

The identification of bodies began almost immediatel}^ and 
within a short while not fewer than two dozen bodies had been 
claimed. The rapidity with which the identifications were 
made was considered remarkable. The bodies were in almost 
every instance identified by the clothing upon them. 

Orders were then sent out by Health Commissioner Dar- 



86 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

lington that all bodies must first be stripped of their clothing 
and effects, which should be numbered, and the bodies placed 
in metallic coffins, bearing a corresponding number, and sealed 
up. The bodies were then to be sent to the morgue at 
Bellevue, but were not to be kept there for identification, but 
forwarded at once to the Lutheran Cemetery and buried in 
the plot set apart for the unknown dead. The place where 
each body was buried was to be carefully marked, so that if 
bodies could be identified from the clothing or effects, they 
could be disinterred and buried elsewhere if the relatives so 
desired. 



CHAPTER VI 
SCENES AT THE MORGUE 

Awaiting the Arrival of the Dead— First Boatload of Thirty Bodies— Eighty 
Corpses on the Massasoit— Rows of Pine Boxes — Wide Open Eyes Star- 
ing Upward— A Father Finds His Baby Daughter — Wife and Children 
Gone — The Tireless Search at the Hospitals— Human Tragedies. 

Many heart-rending scenes have been witnessed in New 
York's morgue, and many harrowing tales have come from 
that temporary home of the city's dead, but all were eclipsed 
by the scenes and doings there when the bodies of many of 
the General Slocum's victims were laid side by side for the 
purpose of identification. 

It was one of the first places that distracted fathers and 
mothers, wives, and sisters sought for tidings of those who had 
left their homes earlier in the day for a bright June day's out- 
ing. Relatives hurried there to learn whether those they 
loved had been saved, or, if burned or drowned, they were in 
readiness to establish the identity of a body by a piece of 
clothing or a trinket, or perhaps by marks that perhaps had 
been left unharmed. 

COFFINS WAIT FOR DEAD 

Scores of rough pine boxes, those grewsome, coffin-shaped 
receptacles that the city furnishes for temporary use, were 
carried from storerooms in Bellevue Hospital and deposited in 
piles in the morgue and in the department of charities' long 

87 



88 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

shedded pier, waiting the arrival of the steamboats Fidelity 
and Massasoit with their loads of dead. 

It was the Fidelity that was first sighted in midstream head- 
ing for the morgue, with its forward deck covered with a bur- 
den kept from sight by the spreading of blankets. The 
Fidelity drew closer and closer and finally made fast at the 
north side of the morgue and at the door of the building. 
A dozen men, morgue attaches, were in readiness, and when 
the gangplank was thrown out two men supporting a pine 
coffin stepped upon it and to the Fidelity's deck. 

DECK COVERED WITH BODIES 

There were twenty-one bodies of adult women on the 
steamboat and the remains of nine children whose ages ran 
from a few months to ten years. One after another the bodies 
were lifted from the deck and placed in coffins to be picked 
up and carried into the morgue, where they were placed side 
by side. 

Men had worked over the Fidelity's dreadful cargo for 
almost an hour, when the Massasoit was reported. Its for- 
ward deck was covered with bodies that lay side by side, and 
through the deckhouse windows and doors forward it could be 
seen that the wain deck was completely covered with bodies, 
between which there was only room left for the deck hands to 
move about. 

DEAD BABE IN DEAD MOTHER'S ARMS 
There were eighty bodies on the Massasoit. Of these 
nearly all were women and small children of ages running 
from three months to fifteen years. On the deck, side by 
side, lay bodies numbered 21 and 22. The first was a mother, 
who when picked up from the water had clasped to her bosom 



SCENES AT THE MORGUE 89 

her little babe, to be numbered 23 when gently removed from 
her mother's arms. 

One after another the bodies were placed in the pine boxes 
and carried into the pier, where they were arranged in two 
long rows, between which room was left so that relatives or 
friends could pass between them for the purpose of recogniz- 
ing features or articles of clothing. 

A SMILE UPON THEIR FACES 

As fast as the bodies were carried in on stretchers, some 
with faces covered by a bit of skirt or a wet handkerchief, and 
others quite uncovered, their wide open eyes staring upward, 
their faces twisted by the agony that was upon them when 
they died, they were laid upon the bare board floor of the 
great square room. They lay side by side in regular rows, 
the women in the center of the room, the little children, some 
of them with a smile upon their faces, in a corner. 

There were no men, nothing but drowned women and 
children. Few showed traces of the fire; one or two were 
burned about the hands or arms, or had hair and eyebrows 
singed, but it was death by water they had all met. 

FATHER TAKES UP WEARY HUNT 

The first into the room was Joseph Volmer of 123 First 
avenue. He looked fearfully at the rows of dead, gasped, and 
covered his face. Then he started the terrible task of trying 
to find his wife and children. Volmer, trembling and weep- 
ing, passed up and down the rows. He was about to leave, 
convinced that none of his loved ones was there, when a gray 
plaid skirt caught his eye. He cried out like an animal in 
torture and fell forward on the body of a woman. He did not 
need to lift the cloth from her face. The dress that he had 



90 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

seen her put on in the morning when she bade him good-by 
and started for the boat hand in hand with their three chil- 
dren told him all that he wanted to know. 

FINDS BABY HE SOUGHT, DEAD 

A big German, Franz Boeger, whose child and wife had 
gone from their home in Brooklyn to the boat, came stumbling 
into the room. It didn't take him long to find the baby face 
he sought, that of his little three-year-old daughter, Florence, 
whose body lay in the corner with other drowned children. 
Boeger didn't cry. He acted as if he could not; but the awful 
silence and calm, the whiteness of the man's face, were more 
terrible than the frenzied screams of others. 

WIFE AND CHILDREN GONE 

Men and women whose faces were tear-stained and their 
eyes red from weeping tried to control themselves until they 
might be admitted to the coffin-strewn pier or morgue. 
Among those waiting was Mangus Harting, who was in search 
of his wife, Louise, and their children, Minnie, twenty-four 
years old, who sang in the choir of St. Mark's Lutheran 
church; Frances, seventeen years old, who was a teacher in 
the Sunday school of the church; Harry, fifteen; Willie, thir- 
teen; Elias, six; and Clara, eleven years old. The distracted 
husband and father had been to North Brother Island, but 
could get no, tidings of his loved ones. 

BOY FIRE HEROpEAD 

Mrs. Minnie Leitz was among those who stood waiting. 
She knew that her sister-in-law, Mrs. Mary Wolmer, was lying 
dead in the Alexander avenue police station in the Bronx. 
But Mrs. Leitz was in quest of Magdalena, seven, and Minnie 



SCENES AT THE MORGUE 91 

Leitz, nine years old, and Joseph, seventeen. It was the lat- 
ter, Mrs. Leitz said, who, at 457 Broome street, where he was 
employed as an office boy, during a fire, took charge of the 
elevator after it had been deserted by the regular attendant, 
and ran it up and down, thereby saving thirty or forty lives of 
persons employed in that building. 

PASTOR'S FAMILY GONE 

The Rev. John A. W. Haas, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran 
church, in West One Hundred and Twenty-third street, and a 
brother of the Rev. George C. F. Haas of St. Mark's church, 
was at the morgue in search of his sister-in-law, Mrs. Anna S. 
Haas, and her and his brother's daughter Gertrude, twelve 
years old. 

The scenes at the hospitals and police station at Alexander 
avenue, where many bodies were carried, were pitiful in the 
extreme. 

The corpses found floating near the Bronx shore, south of 
North Brother Island, immediately after the General Slocum 
was beached, were piled in heaps at the One Hundred and 
Thirty-eighth street dock until the police were organized to 
handle the great crowds that assembled, and arrangements 
were made to lay them out for identification at the police 
station. 

Then they were carried from the dock to the station in 
patrol wagons as fast as they were brought in by tugs, 
launches, and rowboats. 

CRAZED BY SUSPENSE 

An hour later there were ten thousand in the streets strug- 
gling to beat down the solid wall of policemen that guarded 



Q2 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

the doorways and sidewalks. These came most of them from 
the neighborhood of St. Mark's church. They knew that a 
large proportion of the General Slocum's passengers had per- 
ished and they were determined to fight their way into the 
station house to find out if a sister or a mother or a sweetheart 
or a child was in there dead. 

Men were cursing and shouting. Women were crying, 
embracing one another, calling out through the crowd to know 
if any one had heard of this one or that one, begging the 
police to let them in to set their fears at rest. 

One desperate rush was made. Detective Prundy, guard- 
ing the front with fifty plain clothes and uniformed men, 
slammed the heavy doors and policemen set their backs 
against them. Prundy called out in a voice that was heard 
above the tumult of curses and screams: 

"Men and women, we must keep you out now. We are 
sorry for you. We will help you in every way, but you must 
wait until we have made arrangements to let in a few at a 
time. If you force us, we'll have to fight back." 

HOPING AGAINST HOPE 

It was a sorrowful procession of anxious men and women 
who climbed the steps of the Harlem hospital in quest of 
missing relatives and friends. In their faces could be read 
the forlorn hope that still lingered, in spite of a tireless search 
of hospitals in the Bronx, that those whom they sought might 
possibly be in the Harlem institution. 

"It means a wife and five children to me," said a broad- 
shouldered man, who looked to be a mechanic, to Dr. Kraus- 
kopf, "and if there are tears in my eyes they are tears of 
sorrow, not of weakness. For four hours I have looked for a 



SCENES AT THE MORGUE 93 

trace of them, but to no purpose. God is good, though, and I 
may yet find my darlings," he added, as he stifled a sob and 
slowly walked from the hospital. 

PITIFUL SIGHTS 

"Oh, tell me, tell me, my boy is not there," one woman 
kept crying, and to quiet her she was told that he was not, 
and she seemed satisfied, not thinking that no one in the 
crowd had any idea who her boy was. 

In many cases the little ones were still half clasped in the 
arms of their mothers, who had died trying to save them, and 
as these bodies were uncovered, several of the men who were 
carrying them out had to quit their work. 

The sight was too much for even the strongest, and not a 
few of those who were admitted inside the lines were 
obliged to assume charge of the situation and the work of 
identification was systematized so far as possible. 

THROW CHILDREN AT BOATS 

"When I reached the island," said Commissioner of Police 
McAdoo, "I found that every soul was already at work rescu- 
ing the living and bringing in the dead. 

"My men tell me that the women were frantic. Some of 
them were seen to throw their children at the boats as they 
edged close to the burning vessel. Up to four o'clock the 
greater number of bodies brought in were those of women. 
After that time, as the tide went down, just off the point where 
the vessel was beached, bodies of children were taken out at 
the rate of fifty an hour. We had determined to put up 
temporary morgues, converting a coal shed and a disinfecting 
building for that purpose, but the finding of this great number 
of bodies changed our plans. 



94 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

DEAD MAY NEVER BE KNOWN 

"My idea is that the number of the dead will not be known 
for some time, if it ever is known. When the General Slocum 
was beached the tide was running strongly and most of the 
unfortunates jumped from the off side of the vessel, the side 
toward the New York shore. These must have been carried 
out by the tide. The proof of this is that bodies were picked 
up on the New York side and all along the channel down the 
river. The bodies brought ashore after the tide went down 
off the point, most of which were children, had sunk at once. 
While there have been many charred bodies brought in, some 
of them horribly burned, the majority of those I saw died 
from drowning." 

FINDS ONE CHILD IN FIVE 

Many pathetic scenes were witnessed at the various hos- 
pitals, where the relatives sought their loved ones. Wild-eyed 
men, tremulous women, and frightened children begged to 
know if any of their family were in the hospitals. Eagerly 
they seized upon survivors. Most of the interrogations were 
in German. 

"Have you seen my wife? My children? I have lost all." 

"I had five children," said a distracted woman at the Lin- 
coln hospital, "the oldest nineteen and the youngest five years 
of age. They were all on this excursion. Let me pass." 

The men on guard stepped back and she ran, panting, up 
the stairs. The nurses helped her, and presently she came 
upon a girl in a bed in one of the wards, so bandaged that 
none but a mother would have recognized her. The girl was 
burned about the head and limbs, but she leaped from the 
bed at the sight of her mother, and the two descended to the 
lower hall, where they sat side by side in a tearful embrace. 



SCENES AT THE MORGUE 9$ 

"I had five children this morning, now I have only this one, 
my dear love," said the woman, holding the girl as if she 
feared she might 3^et be taken from her. 

DYING SEND KEEPSAKES TO RELATWES 

Health Commissioner Darlington, on his return from 
North Brother Island, carried in his pocket a chatelaine bag 
and a gold watch which had been handed him by two young 
girls who died as they were being carried ashore, before they 
could make known their identity. 

"The chatelaine," said Dr. Darlington, "was given me by a 
girl of about seventeen, who was brought in half drowned and 
terribly crushed, soon after I reached the island. As I bent 
over to help her she opened her eyes and held out this little 
bag. 

" 'Give this to mother,' she said, 'and say Amelia ' 

"Then, without finishing, she fell back and died. The 
handbag contained only three unmarked handkerchiefs." 

Soon after this, Dr. Darlington said, his attention was 
drawn to a young girl who lay on the grass near the shore. 
As he approached she took off her watch. Her lips quivered. 
He knelt beside her and raised her head. 

"Speak," he said. 

The girl's eyes opened; then closed. She, too, was dead. 

THE NIGHT OF THE DISASTER 

The scenes enacted at the Charities pier on Wednesday 
night were weird and sad beyond the power of description. 
The charities department tenders plied back and forth in the 
darkness between the municipal islands and other points 
where bodies had accumulated, bringing in loads of burned 



90 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

and drowned victims of the dreadful catastrophe. Some of 
the bodies were encased in rough pine boxes, such as are used 
to inter the dead on Hart's Island — the unclaimed and pauper 
dead. 

Other bodies were rolled in blankets, canvas and sheeting. 
But all were lifted from the decks of the boats and laid out in 
long rows upon the floors of the wharf and morgue, where 
electric lights lit up their pallid features and made death more 
hideous than is its wont. All night long Commissioner Dar- 
lington, of the health department, remained upon the pier, as 
did also Acting Superintendent Rickard, of the morgue. 
These officials acted with great humanity, directing, advising 
and assisting the grief-stricken thousands who came to the 
place of death in search of loved ones. 

DRIVEN AWAY BY FORCE 

The crowd was large all day, and toward evening the jam 
became so great that a detachment of eighty patrolmen, under 
Captain Shire, of the East Thirty-fifth street station, had all it 
could do to hold the throng in check. While thirty-nine 
bodies were being taken from the steamer Massasoit, hun- 
dreds of relatives were barred from the pier at the foot of 
East Twenty-sixth street. They had to be driven out by force 
and then the doors were barred. 

Crying and fretting on the outside, they soon worked them- 
selves into such a frenzy that they threw their weight upon the 
doors, shoulder to shoulder. The police were for the moment 
swept aside. The screams of two women who were trampled 
on, drew the attention of the other police reserves, and the 
doors were again barred. Neither of the frightened women 
was seriously hurt. 



SCENES AT THE MORGUE 97 

ICE WATER FLOODS THE PIER 

The floor of the whole pier was soaked with ice water that 
dripped from the bodies of the dead. Women held up their 
skirts and men turned up their trousers to wade through the 
slop. Off to one side five or six men were chopping more ice 
for the coffins. Would-be identifiers searched the coffins for 
some sign or token by which they might recognize the dead, 
until their fingers were almost frozen. Sometimes a ring, 
more often a piece of clothing, would furnish the necessary 
clew. 

UNDERTAKERS FIGHT FOR BODIES 

The police had great trouble all day with the undertakers 
who gathered at the pier. Their wagons stood around the 
entrance to the temporary morgue so thickly that it was with 
difficulty people could effect an entrance. The undertakers 
approached every one who walked in the direction of the 
pier, asking to be allowed to take charge of the bodies of 
friends if they succeeded in identifying them. Many times 
several undertakers, or their runners, would grasp some man 
or woman and force him to listen to them. Two of these men 
got into a fight and several blows were exchanged before the 
police separated them. Both were arrested, charged with 
disorderly conduct. 

A PATHETIC SCENE 

Thursday saw a repetition at the morgue of the human 
tragedies which were enacted there the day before. In the 
drizzling rain of the early part of the day there stood hun- 
dreds of anxious ones waiting for their chance to see the dead, 
and with them were scores of others who had made the 
gloomy trip between the rows of coffins time and again with- 



98 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

out finding those they sought, yet waited on in the hope that 
the next consignment of bodies would include them. 

There was a pathetic scene at the pier when a stricken 
father found the body of his little girl in a coffin. He could 
not be controlled for the moment and, standing over the rude 
white box, he threw his watch and his ring and his purse in 
beside the body of the child, exclaiming: 

"Take all, take all, now that you have taken her!" 

GRIEF DRIVES FATHER INSANE 

He had a boy still missing, but the little girl was his favor- 
ite. Right behind the father, who was led away with diffi- 
culty, came two men, one of whom was obviously maddened 
by the grief he had undergone. He was searching for his 
daughter, but he could not find her. He was turning over a 
lot of empty coffins when the police decided to take him away. 
The man fought desperately. 

"You've got her body," he yelled. "You're trying to keep 
her from me. Give me my little girl." 

He was finally removed. His companion refused to give 
his name. 

A DESPERATE CROWD 

Such scenes as were witnessed all day long about the 
morgue can scarcely ever be repeated. Thousands gathered 
in the streets and fought to get through the police lines that 
held them back from the morgue and Charities pier, where 
five hundred or more of the bodies of the victims were laid 
out in rude coffins for identification. 

Two blocks up a strong police line had been established 
and only those who were there to search for the bodies of 
relatives or friends were supposed to be admitted. But this 



SCENES AT THE MORGUE 



99 



rule at times was almost wholly ignored, for thousands of 
morbidly curious men, women and children gathered, and kept 
up a constant struggle to slip through the lines and see the 
spectacle that made many a strong heart throb fiercely. 

In this respect the women were the greatest offenders. 
Many of them appeared to be filled with an insane desire to 
reach the death-filled pier. All day long and late into the 
night there was a constant stream of grief-stricken fathers, 
mothers, brothers and sisters looking for their dead. 

RUSH BREAKS THE LINE 

Late in the afternoon several thousand struggling men, 
women and children were jammed up close to the police cor- 
don. The pressure became so great that the line wavered, 
and none of the policemen had the heart to draw his club. 
Before they could prevent it several hundred of these morbid 
people had plunged through the line and started for the 
morgue and pier where the long rows of coffins had been 
placed. There was no stopping the rush. Within two min- 
utes the crowd was at the wide doors of the pier, where they 
were met by another detachment of policemen who were 
there to keep all out except those who had business there. 

But even there the crowd was not disposed to be stopped. 
The leaders elbowed their way through the doors and the 
others followed as if mad. The police were hurled back and 
in an instant half a hundred men and women were through 
the doors. In their stampede two old women there in search 
of dead loved ones were thrown to the floor and trampled 
upon. Not until then was a police club raised, but at that 
point the bluecoats saw the necessity for stern measures. 
They raised their clubs and the vanguard of the crowd hesi- 



100 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

tated and stopped. That was the turning point, and within 
two minutes the idly curious scores were rushed out through 
the doors into the street. 

A CURIOSITY SEEKER 

In this crowd was a richly dressed woman who had come 
there for no other purpose than to gratify her curiosity. She 
arrived at Twenty-sixth street and First avenue in a big auto- 
mobile. With her was another woman, who remained in the 
automobile and waited while her companion joined in the 
crowd that was to rush the police line. She first attempted to 
get through the line by a ruse. She told the sergeant in com- 
mand that her sister had gone on the fatal excursion and that 
she was there in search of the body. But the police were not 
satisfied with her representations and told her that she must 
see Captain Shire, of the East Thirty-fifth Street Station. 

At that the persistent woman burst into tears and pleaded 
with still more emphasis. It was at this moment that the 
ever-growing crowd behind her made the rush and swept back 
the police guards, giving her the opportunity she had tearfully 
sought. 

SEEKING LOVED ONES 

Pitiful scenes were enacted every minute of the time as the 
long procession of grief-stricken men, women and children 
moved around the death-freighted pier. Mothers stooped 
over little coffins in search of little ones who were counted 
among the missing. Fathers were there seeking whole 
families. Young men marched down the line peering into 
one coffin after another seeking mothers, sisters brothers or 
sweethearts. 

Early in the day a woman of about thirty years begged the 



SCENES AT THE MORGUE loi 

police to admit her. She said that her mother and two chil- 
dren had been killed in the disaster and that she was there to 
get their bodies. She knew they were among the dead, for 
only a few hours after the burnine^ of the Slocum a tugboat- 
man had told her that he saw tnem crushed under the deck 
when it fell. 



CHAPTER VII 
HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 

Rev. George C. F. Haas Relates His Experiences — An Inhuman Brut^ — 
Heat of the Flames Prevents the Work of Rescue — Story of a Deck- 
hand — A Fireman Loses his Family — Rail of the Boat Gives Way — 
Left with Only His Baby— Watching V/hile Mother Dies— The Chil- 
dren's Side of the Disaster the Most Pathetic — Gave Tip Life Preserver 
— Priests Comfort the Bereaved Ones — Mother and Child Die Together 
— Pickpockets — Twenty-nine Relatives Gone. 

Rev. George C. F. Haas, the pastor of the church which 
was giving the excursion, was saved, but his wife, Gertrude, 
and his daughter, Anna, were among the dead. 

THE MINISTER'S STORY 

"The fire started in the kitchen, in the forward part, when 
we were off One Hundred and Thirty-fourth street," said Mr. 
Haas. "I understand that some fat that boiled over started 
the blaze. At that time most of the women and children were 
jammed in the rear end of the boat, where the band w^as 
playing. 

"Why the captain did not point the boat for the Meadows 
I do not understand. He kept on and the fresh wind from 
the Sound drove the fire back through the decks. 

"In three minutes from the time the fire started all the 
decks were ablaze. Such scenes as followed I do not think 
were ever witnessed before. I was in the rear of the boat with 
my wife and daughter. Women were shrieking and clasping 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 103 

their children in their arms. Some mothers had as many as 
three or four with them. 

"When the fire shot up to the top deck and drove the 
crowd back the panic was terrible to witness. The women 
and children clung to the railings and stanchions, but could 
not keep their hold. With my wife and daughter, I was 
swept along with the rest. 

DRIVEN OVERBOARD BY THE CRUSH 

"I believe that the first that fell into the water were 
crushed overboard. When they went there seemed to be a 
general inclination to jump. The women and children went 
over the railings like flies. 

"In the great crush many women fainted and fell to the 
deck, to be trampled upon. Little children were knocked 
down. 

"I got my wife and daughter out on the rail and then we 
went overboard. I was in such an excited state that I do not 
remember whether we were pushed or jumped. 

"When I struck the water I sank and when I rose there 
were scores about me fighting to keep afloat. One by one I 
saw them sink around me, but I was powerless to do anything. 

"With a great effort I managed to keep afloat, but my 
strength was about gone when a man on one of the tugs 
picked me up." 

DROWNING MAN DROWNS A CHILD 

P. Edward Kessell with his wife, Annie, and their two chil- 
dren, Edward, three years old, and Annie, tvv^o years old, were 
among the excursionists. Both Kessell and his wife are 
expert swimmers. When it was seen the boat was doomed, 
Kessell and his wife jumped overboard with the children. 



104 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Kessell, holding to the boy, swam for the North Brother 
Island shore, followed by his wife, who was swimming with the 
little girl. 

A short distance from the boat a man who could not swim 
grabbed the little girl and held on in an effort to save him- 
self. Mrs. Kessell fought frantically with the man and tried 
to drag her child from his grasp, but the man's strength 
proved the greater and Mrs. Kessell saw her little girl disap- 
pear beneath the water with the drowning man. 

Mrs. Kessell then swam to shore and joined her husband 
and son. 

TUGS STOPPED BY BODIES 

j^erbert S. Nulson, an employee of the Delavergen Refrig- 
erator Company, said he was working in a tower in the 
company's factory, at the foot of East One Hundred and 
Thirty-eighth street, when a fellow employee called: "Here 
comes a big boat up the river, and I believe she is on fire." 

"I looked down the river," said Nulson, "and saw the 
steamboat which I was sure then was the General Slocum. 
The flames were just beginning to make headway when I first 
saw her, and by the time she came opposite us I could see that 
her decks were crowded with women and children, who began 
to jump into the water. 

"Tugs began to put out to the burning boat, but they could 
not get near enough to do any good on account of the heat of 
the flames. 

"A lot of rowboats had put out by this time, and those, with 
the tugs, went as near the General Slocum as they could, but 
the water was so full of bodies that they made their way only 
with difficulty and the smaller of them were in danger of being 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS W5 

swamped by those in the water trying to climb over the 

^""Tsaw one tugboat push right up through the smoke and 
flames. She had a long, flat, empty barge in tow, and I suppose 
she ran this against the Slocum and took off many people 
m It. 

VICTIMS FIGHT IN WATER 

Peter J. Tremble, a deck hand of the Slocum, was arrested 
by the police as he was wandering aimlessly about the beach. 

"We left the Third street dock at to a. m.," he told them 
•■I was polishing brasswork soon after, when a deck hand 
called my attention to smoke coming out of a forward cabm 
I ran forward and helped the first assistant engmeer to stretch 

a hose. , .1, 

•■We could not get any water. The fire spread so rap.dly 
that we were driven to the forward promenade deck, which 
was covered with panic-stricken women and children 1 
pulled down an armful of life preservers and distributed them, 
I then put a life preserver around my shoulders and jumped 
overboard with two children. 

"They were torn away from me by the impact of the water. 
I managed to grasp one of the blades of the paddle wheels 
and climbed up in the paddle box. The water beneath me 
was a perfect hell. Men and women were clawing at my legs 
as I climbed and my trousers were torn away in my efforts to 
escape from them. I was subsequently rescued by a rowboat 

and put on shore." 

COMPLETELY UNNERVED 
Fred Hoffman, a fireman, and one of the excursionists, was 
brought ashore, unnerved and hysterical. At first all that 



io6 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

could be got from him was that he had lost his mother and 
sister-in-law, his brother's two children and a young woman 
with him. 

"I was on the upper deck with my family," he finally 
explained, "and little Edna, my brother's three-year-old child, 
was in my arms. Beside me were my mother, Mrs. Sophia 
Hoffman; my brother's wife, Celia; her boy Raymond, aged 
four, and Jane Workman, my friend, aged twenty. 

"I don't remember much about the fire. It seemed to 
come from below. I grabbed the boy and called upon the 
women to follow me. First the women were separated from 
me, then the crowd swept me and the little ones toward the 
stern of the boat. 

"In trying to reach the women folks of my family I got lost 
in the crowd and went overboard with it. I remember noth- 
ing but being trampled upon. When I came to the surface a 
life preserver was within my reach and I clung to that. My 
strength was gone and it seemed as if I could not hold on a 
bit longer when some one pulled me out of the water and 
took me ashore." 

SEES BROTHER SINK TO DEATH 

Fred Liberman of White Plains, N. Y., who was on board, 
said: 

"My poor mother, brother and sister were on that boat, 
too. I don't know what became of them. I was standing 
with the other three boys at the right side of the boat leaning 
against the rail. 

"We were almost to North Brother Island when the rail 
gave way and many people tumbled into the water. My 
brother and I were two of these. 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 107 

"I caught hold of Johnny's hand and tried to save him. 
He lost his hold on my hand and the last I saw of him he was 
looking at me with an appeal on his face that was terrible. 
I was picked up by a boat." 

RESCUED BY A BARGE HAND 

Miss Marie Krueger of 451 West End avenue, one of those 
injured, is at the Harlem hospital. 

"I was sitting on the upper deck when there was a cry of 
fire," she said. "Men came among us and told us to be quiet. 
The women and children were panic-stricken. I slid down 
a pole to the water and held on by a rope by the side of the 
boat. 

"The flames began to shoot out of the portholes and I had 
to let go. A little boy was near me holding a life preserver. 
A coal barge was near and a deck hand threw us a rope, which 
vv'c got, and were pulled aboard the coal barge. I saw my 
cousin and sister, but they disappeared. An ambulance with 
Dr. Krauskopf of Harlem hospital came along and brought 
us here. The barge first put in to the landing on Randall's 
Island and, after putting the people ashore, went out for 
another trip of rescue." 

NO TRACE OF HIS FAMILY 

August Schneider, a musician, appeared at the Alexander 
avenue station with his baby Augusta in his arms, looking for 
his wife and two other children. The only information 
Schneider could impart was that he was with his family on 
the main deck near the stern and saw the steamboat "break 
in two in the middle." The next he knew he found himself 
with his baby in his arms on the deck of a tug. Whether he 



io8 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

had been in the water or not the man did not know. His 
clothing was dry. There was no trace of his family. 

THE BAND WAS PLAYING 

John Edell, twenty-two years old, one of the survivors of 
the Slocum disaster, gave a graphic account of his terrible 
experience, his mother and little brother having been drowned 
before his eyes. 

"When we left the pier the decks were packed to the limit 
of their capacity," he said. "The band was playing, the chil- 
dren were frolicking about and we were all having a fine time. 

"As we neared Hell Gate the children were called down to 
the lower deck, where ice cream and soda water were served. 
The children were falling all over each other in an effort to 
get to the tables which held the refreshments. With my 
mother and my little brother Paul, I went to the engine-room 
to watch the machinery. 

"Suddenly and without the least warning there was a burst 
of flames from the furnace-room that rushed up through the 
engine-room and flashed out about us. The flames spread 
quickly, setting fire to the clothing of the women and children 
who were grouped about the engine-room watching the 
machinery. 

HIS MOTHER SWEPT AWAY 

"There was the most terrible panic as the burning women 
and children rushed out among those surrounding the ice 
cream and soda water tables screaming with pain. 

"I endeavored for a few minutes to break through the mad 
crush and get to my mother and little brother, but I was swept 
into one corner of the boat and held there unable to move. 
They were swept overboard by the crush against the rail. 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 109 

"At one time it seemed to me as if the women and children 
were pouring over the sides like a waterfall. As we made for 
the shore the captain blew his whistle in one continuous blast 
and soon boats of all descriptions were making for us from 
every direction. 

"I was rescued by a launch just as the boat settled close to 
the shore. 

"The men from the tugs who could get near the steamboat 
shouted for those on board to jump and then the small boats 
picked them up by scores." 

A PECULIAR COINCIDENCE 

The children's side of the Slocum disaster was perhaps the 
most pathetic of all. 

One, a little girl about seven years old, walked sobbingly 
along the line of dead on the pier. She said she had lost her 
mother and grandmother. By a peculiar coincidence the 
bodies were found side by side and identified by the little girl. 
The mother was Mrs. Annie E. Bucheidt and the grand- 
mother Mrs. Louisa Schwartz. 

A HEROIC SACRIFICE 

In the same hospital were little boys. 

"My mother gave me a life preserver, that's how I got 
saved," said one whose name was Muller. "I guess she didn't 
have none herself, because they can't find her," 

"I didn't have no life preserver at all," said his bedfellow, 
Henry Fernweiser. "I went down twice and I swallowed a 
whole lot of water, but pretty soon I caught hold of a dead 
woman and then somebody grabbed me with a hook. If it 
hadn't been for that dead woman I'd been drowned sure." 



no NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
TOO YOUNG TO REALIZE 

Up and down the wards and corridors tramped a little lad 
two years of age. He had yellow hair and was neatly dressed 
in white. He could talk little, and that little was German, so 
he and the nurses took each other on faith. He spoke of his 
mother and it was understood that he had been with her on 
the excursion. After he had been in the hospital for several 
hours his father came, sad of face, and kissed the little boy 
and took him away. 

"I cannot find her," he said, when asked about the boy's 
mother, but the little chap smiled, waved his hands in fare- 
well and went av/ay hugging a toy. 

PRIESTS GIVE EXTREME UNCTION 

Priests went about administering the last rites to the dying. 
Among them was Father Donlin of St. Jerome's Church, who 
gave the extreme unction to forty-four persons, of whom 
forty-two died. 

Fathers Boyle and Christian, both of St. Luke's Church, 
went about administering the last rites for the dying or com- 
forting the bereaved ones gathered about their dead. 

Sometimes one would hear the strange sound of hysterical 
laughter, and looking in the direction whence it came, would 
see some entire family united. They had not seen one 
another in many cases since the fire occurred, and they had 
grieved for the missing ones as lost until they met on the 
island. 

The bright sun and the laughing waters seemed out of 
place on this lonely island with its weeping, wailing groups, its 
long row of silent bodies and the boats off shore landing fre- 
quently with more bodies to place with the others. 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS in 

MOTHER AND CHILD DEAD TOGETHER 

A sight that brought tears to the eyes of all beholders was 
the body of Mrs. Lillian Granefire. Clasped to her breast was 
the body of her nine-nionths-old baby. Both had been 
burned to death, the mother vainly endeavoring to protect her 
child. 

A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE 

Fred Keeler, a lad of fourteen years, who resides at 115 
Avenue A with his aunt, went on the excursion alone. Here 
is the boy's description of his terrible experience: 

"The first thing I knew of the fire was when the lemonade 
man came and said that there was a small fire in the engine- 
room, but there was no danger and we need not be afraid. 
We all sat down and an officer of the boat came in and told 
us there was no danger, but just then the black smoke began 
to pour out of the middle of the ship. 

"I ran for a life preserver and got one and put it on. 
There was a terrible rush to get life preservers, and women 
and children fought for them. Those who got them put them 
on and many people climbed over the railing and hung to it 
on the outside, hoping that the flames might be checked. 

"The flames spread rapidly, and a big yellow tugboat came 
alongside of the steamer. I saw a chance and jumped aboard 
her with a lot of other people. We were landed at North 
Brother Island. Ambulances were waiting there and many of 
those who escaped on the tug needed help, for some of them 
had been badly burned. 

"But the most awful thing was the babies. Women either 
dropped them or were torn away from them during the 
struggle to get life preservers or to get overboard. I looked 



112 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

back after we had left the burning boat and I could see lots 
of them lying in the flames near the edge of the boat. They 
screamed and tried to get away from the flames, but it was no 
use for them to try, and pretty soon they would lie still, and I 
knew they were dead." 

WEAK ONES BEAR THE BRUNT 

For as usual it was the women and the little children who- 
bore the brunt of the death agony. The crew, stalwart sea- 
men, all escaped unharmed with one or two exceptions. Most 
of the men on board the ship were saved. But the women and 
the children, the mothers with the babies in their arms and 
the toddlers clinging to their skirts, were crushed, buffeted, 
maimed and burned beyond recognition. Helpless, screaming 
and praying for mercy, they were shriveled before the fiery 
breath of the flames. 

WOMEN PROVE HEROINES 

No brain can imagine the fullness of that horror; no pen 
can write it. There were deeds of heroism done on board 
that burning ship that equaled any recorded in history. 

Feeble mothers covered their babies with their bodies, pre' 
scnting a living barrier of flesh and blood to the flames that 
leaped toward their darlings. That many little children were 
thus spared the agony of death by the flames was mutely 
attested by the charred bodies of the mothers and the corpses 
of the little children beneath them untouched by the flames. 

FOUGHT LIKE ANIMALS 

Other mothers fought like trapped animals to reach the 
edge of the crowded decks, in order that they might give their 
little ones the more merciful death of drowning. 

Still others, separated from their children by the onward 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 113 

rush of the maddened crowd, rushed Hke maniacs into the 
very heart of the flames in the vain search for their httle ones. 
It v/as the triumph of m.other love over terror of death. It 
placed anew the laurel crov/n upon the brow of the mother. 

TWO BOY HEROES PERISH 

Two boys, Fred and Charles Schaler, brothers, were last 
seen just before the upper deck gave way. They w^re work- 
ing in a bucket brigade and disappeared when the deck 
crashed down into the flames below. Their father was 
searching at the hospitals and morgue at night for news of 
his heroic sons, but had not found them at midnight. 

Henry Alt was one of the boys who went on the excursion. 
His mother, father and brother, it is believed, accompanied 
him. All were missing from their home at night. The 
rooms were dark. 

TELLS STORY OF HORROR 

August Balzer was the first of the survivors to return to 
the parish with the tale of horror. He and his wife, with the 
family and servant of Peter J. Fickbaum, formed a party of 
merry excursionists. Balzer, dripping wet, his hands and face 
burned, returned to break the news. He staggered into the 
saloon of his friend Fickbaum, and fell to the floor uncon- 
scious. 

"What's the matter, Gus?" cried Fickbaum, after Balzer 
had been revived. 

"They're lost — burned — all gone," gasped Balzer. Then in 
incoherent sentences he told the story of the disaster. Like 
wildfire it spread throughout the neighborhood. 

"My wife! My Catherine!" Balzer would exclaim time and 
again. Later, surrounded by a group of anxious and fearful 



114 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

inquirers, he became more composed. This is the story he 
told: 

"Shortly after leaving the pier I left my wife and the Fick- 
baums on the middle deck. They were sitting in the bow. I 
took little Freddy Fickbaum on the top deck to show him the 
points of interest. 

FIRE COMES FROM BELOW 

"We were approaching the island when, looking forward, I 
saw flames shooting up from the deck below. Unclasping my 
knife, I slashed at the fastenings of the life rafts near by. But 
they were secured by wire instead of rope. I told Freddy to 
stay with me, but when I returned he had disappeared. I then 
started for my party, but was driven back by the flames. 

"The whole front part of the boat by this time was a mass 
of fire. For the time being so near were we to shore that 
there was no panic. The passengers, mostly women and chil- 
dren, retreated before the flames. 

"All thought the boat would put into shore at once, but it 
seemed fully Ave minutes or more before she swung in shore. 
By this time the scene was terrifying. Women threw their 
children overboard and then followed. They had no other 
refuge from the flames, which swept everything before them. 

"I rushed aft, calling to my wife, but I could not see her, 
and in the roar of the fire and the cries of the panic-stricken 
passengers she could not hear me. I was driven back to the 
wheelhouse by the fire. I thought I was trapped. There was 
no chance for me to go farther aft, and below was the fire. 

SEARCHED IN VAIN FOR HIS WIFE 

"I threw myself over the railing and dropped into the 
Vv^ater on the side farthest from the land. It was then I 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 115 

received these burns. The water only came to my arm-pits 
and I could have walked to the shore. When I finally 
emerged I looked back and to my dying day I'll never forget 
the scene. 

"Around me were a score of bodies, most of them charred 
and burned. I helped as many as possible of those living to 
the land. From the stern of the boat, where hundreds of 
persons were huddled, fighting like mad to leap into the water, 
I saw dozens of women with babies in their arms throw them- 
selves over the side. 

"I searched in vain for my wife. Body after body wjLsifaid 
on the shore, but hers was not among them. Then some one 
said that a party of women and children had been sent to the 
city, and a neighbor told me my wife was among them. As 
he spoke, her hat, the feather burned, was washed ashore. 

"I grabbed it and then hurried here. But she's lost! 
Catherine's gone!" 

A TWO DAYS' SEARCH 

For forty-eight hours, with scarcely any sleep, Adolph 
Molitor searched for his wife and three children and four 
other relatives who were on board the General Slocum, but he 
was able to find the bodies of only four of his missing loved 
ones. He could not get any trace of his three children, Carl, 
Eva and Joseph, who were last seen on the steamboat, just 
before she ran on North Brother Island shore. 

"I don't know what has become of my children," said Mr. 
Molitor. "I searched high and low for them, but can get no 
trace. I believe they are drowned and are floating somewhere 
in the Sound. It is very mysterious and I am almost heart- 
broken over their loss. 



ii6 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

"I found the body of my wife and my sisters-in-law. I 
have searched the morgues, hospitals and police stations, but 
I cannot get any word of my children." Later the bodies of 
the missing children were found and identified. 

ALDERMAN IS UHNEEVED 

'Alderman Doherty was one of my volunteers when we 
found a tiny baby girl four years old to whose little foot a 
blue baby shoe was hanging by a ribbon," said Coroner 
O'Gorman. "The alderman broke down for the first time. 
He was able to stand up under the horrible phases of the 
thing, but the sight of the baby and the little shoe unnerved 
him. He asked me for the shoe and I gave it to him. That 
shoe is the only piece of property that I have permitted to be 
taken off the island. 

"No one who stood on the beach on Wednesday night 
when our men vvere fishing out bodies as fast as they could 
row back and forth will ever forget the scene. It is the kind 
of thing that a man will wake up nights and see again before 
him in the darkness. 

HELD BABES IN HER DEATH AGONY 

"Only one of a hundred such instances was a mother and 
her three children fished up locked in each others' arms. The 
mother had clutched them so fiercely in her death agony that 
it was hard to release her arms from the babes. Two young 
girls were found clinging to each other just as they had 
jumped from the steamer. A little boy with his right arm 
clasped about a little girl's neck, her arms around his waist — 
that was another one of the death groups that was enough to 
make any man weep. 



HEART-RENDING INCIDENTS 117 

CARRIAGE WITH DEAD BABY 

"Wc found one giant. He was six feet five inches tall, a 
perfect Hercules of a man, and must have weighed three hun- 
dred pounds. On a handkerchief, in indelible ink, was printed 
the name 'Grifiing.'- He must have made a terrible fight for 
life. His limbs and face showed that only too plainly. 

"One of my men, S. H. Berg, raked up a baby carriage, with 
a six-months-o!d girl in it. The baby had been strapped in 
the carriage and the hood of the vehicle was pulled down 
over it. 

T could tell of fifty such horrors that would make you 
gasp. But a man doesn't want to think of too many of these 
things, and they don't look well in print. They are not pleas- 
ant to remember either.'' 

PICKPOCKETS AT WORK 

Many heartless pickpockets took advantage of the crowds 
of afflicted people in front of St. Mark's Church and at the 
morgue to ply their mean trade. 

Detectives from the East Side Station were detailed to all 
of the places where the bereaved people were likely to gather 
to get information about their loved ones. 

A detective watched tvv^o small boys who were acting sus- 
piciously in front of St. Mark's Church. He saw one of the 
boys slip his hand into the skirt pocket of a woman who was 
weeping bitterly. The other boy was acting as a lookout. 
Both boys were arrested and sent to the House of Refuge. 
The judge who sentenced them said: 

'T am. very sorry I cannot send you to State Prison. Any- 
body who has so little heart as to rob a sorrowing mother who 



ii8 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HOI 

is hunting for little children that are in all probability dead, 
deserves the severest penalty that the law can inflict." 
ATTACKED A WOMAN TO SAVE SELF 

A young girl survivor relates the following incident that 
occurred on the Slocum: 

"So far as I could see, not one of the steamer's crew did 
anything to help the passengers. The life preservers were 
hanging on wires, and we had to get them as best we could. 
Mamma and sister Grace and I were standing together. I 
climbed up on a camp stool and pulled down three life pre- 
servers. As I did so I became separated from mamma and 
sister, and when I tried to find them they were gone. 

"Then I tried to fasten on a life preserver myself. The 
string which I tried to tie around my waist came off, and then 
the life preserver seemed to come apart. At any rate, a lot of 
powdered .cork fell out on the deck. 

"Everybody seemed to be jumping overboard, so I put the 
life preserver under one arm and the camp stool under the 
other and jumped. When I fell into the water the camp stool 
seemed to open and it held me up. I floated around for a 
while near the steamer, and I saw a woman hanging to the 
rail. The steamer was then near the beach. 

"Had the woman been able to hang on a little longer she 
could have walked ashore. But a man climbed over the rail 
from the boat, and, not being able to get a place to catch hold 
of, I saw him bite the woman's hand until she had to let go. 
She dropped into the water and I don't know whether she was 
saved or not." 

TWENTY-NINE RELATIVES LOST 

One single family connection counted its loss by the Gen- 
eral Slocum disaster at twenty-nine persons. Henry A. 



HEART RENDING INCIDENTS 119 

Kohler, who lived at 315 East Thirteenth street, and was 
engaged in an insurance business, went on the excursion with 
his wife and his son, Henry, ten years old. With him also in 
the family party on the boat were cousins, sisters-in-law, and 
connections of every sort by blood and law, In the fire or 
in the water afterward perished Kohler, his wife, his son, and 
twenty-six others of the kinship. 

Henry A. Kohler's body was found in the water. The body 
of the boy also was recovered and identified, but that of the 
mother was not found. 

Of the twenty-six remoter kin many, too, were among the 
missing, but all day many others lay in one of the undertaking 
shops, while every now and then hearses came and went and 
now one and now another body was borne out for burial, some 
of which made up the grim family party lying so quiet in the 
long black boxes in the back room of the undertaker's shop. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 

The First Alarm of Fire — Knew that the Sloeum was Doomed — Could Not 
Swing the Boat Against the Tide — No Chance to Beach the Steamer — 
Scores Pitched into the Uiver — Tried by Fire — Did the Captain 
Blunder? — Other Means of Escape — The Crew Blamed. 

The captain of the General Sloeum, W. H. Van Schaick; 
Edward Van Wart, his first pilot; and Edward N. Weaver, 
second pilot, all of whom jumped overboard and swam for 
North Brother Island when the flames drove them from the 
pilot house, were at once arrested. 

The three men, burned, dripping wet, and overcome by the 
horror of the things they had seen, were taken to the police 
station, where they were questioned by the coroner. 

Captain Van Shaick, shaken and nerve shattered, told the 
following story by fits and starts. 

"I was in the pilot house with Van Wart and Weaver, first 
and second pilots, when I heard the cry of 'Fire!' raised in the 
fore part of the steamer. I remember that the German band 
on board was playing, that the children were romping all over 
the upper decks, and their mothers and elders were singing, 
keeping time to the band. 

"At first nobody in the after part of the steamer seemed to 
realize what had happened. 

KNEW THE BOAT WAS DOOMED 

"I saw a big spurt of flame shoot up and I had had enough 
experience with river fires to know that the Sloeum was 



THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 121 

doomed. The boat was running perhaps twelve miles an 
hour. Consequently the stiff breeze caught the flame and 
fanned it backward all through the open decks. 

"I looked around trying to make up my mind where would 
be the best place to make a landing. We were just off the 
Sunken Meadows. I thought at first of trying to run in there 
or somewhere along the Bronx shore of the river. But the 
tide was running so strong that I knew it would be a hard job 
to svv'ing the boat around at right angles. I was afraid, too, 
that the steering gear would break down under such a strain 
and leave us helpless in the middle of the river. 

WARNED OFF ONE LANDING 

"A tugboat captain saw me turn the boat ahead a little 
towards 184th street on the Bronx side. He yelled at me to 
keep off, as the fire would ignite the lumber stored there, and 
the oil tanks on the pier. Then I made up my mind to run 
for North Brother Island. It seemed the best under the cir- 
cumstances. I may have been wrong, but there was a chance 
there to beach the Slocum sidewise and give everybody a chance 
to get off. At the Meadows along the Bronx shore that, too, 
would have been impossible. There are many rocks there. 

"Then the panic began. I kept my eyes ahead, but it was 
impossible to keep from seeing the frightened scramble for 
the boat's side, the side towards the Bronx shore. Men 
fought each other, yelling like mad. Women clawed each 
other's faces and screamed for their babies. Children cried 
and screamed and were trampled under foot. 

HUNDREDS PITCH INTO RIVER 

"The rush to the rail on the port side of the boat caused it 
to heel over a little. This forced a mass of crazed men, 



122 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

women, and children against the guard rail of the upper deck. 
It broke, and scores — God knows how many — were pitched 
into the river by the weight from behind. 

"I saw Mate Ed Flannagan and yelled to him to get the 
fire apparatus to work. Flannagan got all the men he could 
find together and rigged up two hose lines. 

"He got these playing on the fore part of the boat, but it 
was like trying to put out hell itself. The flames had too 
much of a start, and by then were roaring all through the 
boat, for the most part on the starboard or Brooklyn side. 
Besides that, hundreds of women snatched at Flannagan and 
his men, falling over them, pulling them down, making it 
impossible to work. 

JUMP WITH BABIES IN ARMS 

"The fire made the fiercest and wildest blaze I ever saw. 
It was impossible to live near it. I saw, I don't know how 
many, stand it as long as they could and then jump into the 
river, some of the women bearing babies in their arms, others 
holding fast to older children. 

"I got the General Slocum beached sidewise. It struck 
twenty-five feet from shore. Before that the flames had crept 
to the pilot house, blistering my feet. Van Wart, Weaver, 
and I got out some way, I can't tell how, and jumped into the 
river. We swam to shore, burned and sick, and stood around 
until we got a chance to get to the mainland in a small 
boat.', 

All that a man is must be brought out in an experience 
such as Captain Van Schaick of the Slocum went through. 
He proved his courage, even if his judgment shall be 
impeached. But if he erred in judgment his critics must not 



THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 123 

lose sight of the strain upon the man and the horror of the 
situation from which he could not run away. 

When the seriousness of the fire came to him the Sunken 
Meadows virtually were passed by his vessel. The strong, 
irregular tides that have made Hell Gate a menace to ship- 
ping made turning back seem impossible. He was in a chan- 
nel varying from 140 to 300 yards wide, and under the Slocum's 
keel were 16 to 150 feet of churning water. He had been 
warned off from lumber yards and oil tanks at One Hundred 
and Twenty-fourth street, and in the fraction of a second in 
which his mind had to act he fixed upon North Brother Island 
for beaching the doomed craft. From his place on the bridge 
the tragedies of the fire were behind him, veiled in black 
smoke. It was a question whether, if the vessel were turned 
nose on to the rocks sheer at the edge of deep water, the cur- 
rent might not swing the boat helpless into the stream again. 
He had fixed upon North Brother Island, however, and his 
purpose held according to his first judgment. With his feet 
blistered and his hat burned from his head, he beached the 
boat on the north shore of the island, with his engineer dead 
at his post below. Van Schaick could not tell how he 
escaped. When he had been arrested with his pilot he was 
burned so that a hospital ward was his place of detention. 

Many a man lacking in judgment has been a hero in his 
unselfish duty. Van Schaick was tried in literal fire and did 
not flinch. Even his judgment may be left to him when the 
technical critic is done. 

DID CAPTAIN VAN SCHAICK BLUNDER? 

In respect to the allegation that many lives were sacrificed 
because the captain of the Slocum delayed too long and went 



124 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

too far to beach the boat, much was learned by going over the 
actual course followed by the General Slocum with expert 
river men v/ho have worked the upper East River and sound 
for years. There are no less than seven points, all more than 
one mile nearer the point at which the fire was discovered on 
the Slocum than the one where it was beached, to which Cap- 
tain Van Schaick might have taken the Slocum and beached it 
safely and saved many hundreds of lives. 

NEARER POINTS THAN BROTHER ISLAND 

At the time the fire alarm was given on the Slocum the 
vessel was in the East River, opposite the northeast corner of 
Ward's Island — not two hundred feet away. It was not in 
mid-stream, and was much nearer the Ward's Island shore 
than the Astoria shore. A list of the places at which the Slo- 
cum could have been beached which offered either good means 
for the escape of the passengers or better means than they 
found at North Brother Island, in the opinion of expert navi- 
gators, is as follows: 

The northeast corner of Ward's Island, where there is shal- 
low water for 150 feet out, and well within reach of hundreds 
of boats, small and large, on the shores of Oak Point and Port 
Morris, from which point many might have swum ashore. 

Little Hell Gate, a narrow passage between Ward's and 
Randall's Islands, in which a safe beaching point could have 
been reached at a distance of no more than 1,000 feet from 
the point of the Slocum's course, opposite the eastern mouth 
of Little Hell Gate. 

SUNKEN MEADOWS EASY OF ACCESS 

Sunken Meadows, a large area of grass-grown meadow, 
v.'hich at its nearest point was not more than 400 feet from the 



THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 125 

course of the Slocum when opposite Sunken Meadows' light. 
This point is easy of access from Oak Point and Port Morris. 

Casino Beach in Astoria, not 600 feet from the easternmost 
point attained by the Slocum in its course north vv^hen the 
captain was wavering between the east and west. At this 
point there is a wide shelving beach of sand, and at the time 
there vv^ere 300 men standing on the beach watching the burn- 
ing boat. 

Lav^^rence Point, 300 yards north of Casino Beach, where 
there is a shoal for more than the Slocum's length, and easy 
of access for men from Casino Beach. 

A narrow passage east of Lawrence Point, between that 
land and Berrian's Island, and in reach of men from Casino 

Beach. 

Two points on Oak Point, both a mile or more south of 
Port Morris, both in reach of the fire department, and within 
a stone's throv/ of the yacht club, where 100 small boats could 
,have been manned for rescue work in ten minutes. 

SHOULD NOT HAVE FACED WIND 

All these places are so situated that they could have been 
reached without the necessity of turning the Slocum's head to 
the vv^ind, and thus sweeping the fire aft over the vessel. 

Defenders of the action of the captain say in reply that he 
had a strong tide with him in the course he took, and in such 
a current he would have lost much time in swinging the big 
boat around. 

One authority stated that Captain Van Schaick's course in 
keeping the boat under motion was the principal cause of the 
loss of life. Every turn of his wheel murdered a score of 
women and children. Had the boat been stopped— we mean 



126 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

simply stopped by shutting off the steam and leaving the boat 
to drift in the tideway — several things would have happened. 

WHEN A BOAT IS ON FIRE— STOP 

In the first place, there would have been no such draught 
to force the fire, and the chances of putting it out would have 
been tenfold better. In the second place, if it could not be 
extinguished, it would have burned more slowly, and there 
would have been a great deal more time to save the passen- 
gers. In the third place, the direction of the flames would 
have been the natural direction, perpendicularly into the air, 
not backward to roast the passengers. In the fourth place, 
other vessels would have had opportunity to gather around 
the doomed steamer and take the passengers off, and in the 
fifth place there would have been opportunity to launch the 
lifeboats, throw overboard the life rafts, to get down the life 
preservers and put them on, and, without outside help, many 
more would have been saved. In short, the running of the 
boat consumed it in the most rapid possible manner, and in 
the most dangerous possible manner. To stand still would 
have given time, the one great essential thing that was needed 
to save lives. 

The thing which happened was the worst possible thing 
that could have happened. The final beaching of the boat 
did not save a single life, did not tend to the saving of any 
lives. If instead of that the General Slocum had even drifted 
on the rocks and sunk at the start there could not have been 
any more lives lost than there were lost. It is impossible to 
imagine any untoward circumstances, any disastrous complica- 
tion, anything whatever, that could have increased the death 
roll. To have stopped the boat, therefore, even supposing the 



THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 12; 

worst, could not have increased the chances of loss one iota, 
while it would have increased the chances of salvation a hun- 
dredfold. The great lesson of the whole disaster is summed 
up in the orders of the national government — "When a boat 
is on fire, stop." Nothing can happen to a vessel standing still 
so bad as what is brought upon it by going ahead. 

THE CHIEF ENGINEER'S STORY 

Chief Engineer Conklin, of the General Slocum, who had a 
miraculous escape from the burning boat, said: 

"Never in my forty years of seagoing have I seen such a 
disaster or dreamed that such a thing could possibly happen. 
When I close my eyes at night I can see those children and 
women with their white faces, upon which an agony of fear 
and horror are stamped. I can hear the screams of mothers 
and the cries of anguish from the helpless little ones, and it is 
impossible for me to sleep. 

"We left the Third street pier on Wednesday morning 
about nine o'clock. The steamer was well filled, but we were 
not overcrowded. We proceeded up the stream at a good 
rate of speed, and I was standing near my engine watching it 
work. I had just turned to my assistant, Everett Brandow, 
and remarked that I had never seen it work so smoothly, when 
the mate came running up to me with his face very pale and 
told me that the boat was on fire forward. 

"There were women and children near the engine-room 
watching the machinery, but I do not think that they heard 
what the mate said. I at once informed the captain of the 
fact and, telling my assistant to stand by the engine, I sprang 
to the pumps and started them going. The captain ordered 



128 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

the hose laid and in less than two minutes after the fire was 
discovered water was being thrown upon the flames. 

THE FIRST CRY OF FIRE 

'A moment after the pumps started to work some one on 
the deck above shouted 'Fire!' and in an instant there was a 
roar Hke a cyclone as the people made a rush for the stern of 
the vessel. They talk about a handful of men, twenty-one in 
number, controlling a crowd of sixteen hundred panic-stricken 
jjcople. It was simply impossible. No power on earth could 
check them or calm their fears. They rushed about as 
though bereft of their senses. 

"I never saw flames spread with such rapidity. In less than 
two m.inutes the whole forvv^ard part of the vessel was on fire. 
The captain, from time to time, kept calling to my engineer, 
asking how the fire was progressing, and ordered a full head of 
steam on. 

'I stood near the pumps all the time, even when it v/as evi- 
dent that the water would not extinguish the flames. 

"The part of the boat where I stood was filled with a dense 
black smoke and I was obliged to cover my mouth with my 
arm in order to breathe. The boat had been freshly painted 
and that caused the woodwork to burn more fiercely. As far 
as I could see the crew worked nobly and did all they could. 

THE CAPTAIN DID THE BEST THING 

"When I saw that the steamer was headed for North 
Brother Island, I knew that Captain Van Schaick was doing 
the best thing possible. Every one who has been on the river 
knows that Hell Gate is a treacherous place, and I was fear- 
ful if the pilot put about we would ground on a rock, and then 



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THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 129 

the loss of life would be even greater, for a person, no matter 
how good a swimmer he might be, would have been carried 
down like a dead weight and there would have been little or 
no chance of saving them. The docks at that point were cov- 
ered with oil and other inflammable material, and to have 
attempted a landing there would have been extremely unwise. 
"In my opinion the captain did the only thing possible, and 
had he not done so, very few, if any, on the boat would have 

survived." 

DIFFERENT OPINIONS 

Shipping men expressed diverse opinions concerning the 
action of Captain Van Schaick in beaching his vessel on North 
Brother Island. In every steamboat office the chart of the 
waters about Hell Gate was carefully gone over in considering 
whether or not the captain of the vessel did all that he could 
have done to save the lives of his passengers. 

Along the Manhattan shore, from the point at which the 
fire was discovered to where the steamboat v/as beached, is a 
line of gas works and lumber piles, and many held that had 
the vessel put in there she would have started a blaze ashore. 
Some expressed the belief that Captain Van Schaick 
refrained from going in there because he did not want to 
cause any extra damage for which his company would be held 
liable. Others said that he had probably kept on his course 
thinking that he could extinguish the flames, and that he did 
not attempt to beach his vessel until he saw that all hope of 
saving her was gone. 

VIOLATED AN UNWRITTEN LAW 

An officer attached to the local revenue cutter service, after 
looking over the chart, said that Van Schaick was guilty of 
having violated one of the great unwritten laws of the sea 



130 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

that says to put the tail of your vessel to the wind when hre is 
discovered forward. His course, when the fire started, was 
almost east. The wind was coming from across his port and 
fanned the flames so that in a very short time they enveloped 
the entire vessel, running, as they did, straight aft. 

DEFENDS THE ACTION OF VAN SCHAICK 

One of the river captains expressed the belief that it was 
impossible for Van Schaick to have done otherwise, because 
of the depth of water and the nature of the tides about Hell 
Gate. "The Slocum could not have run up to the Sunken 
Meadows," he said, "because to have done so she would have 
had to turn about, and while trying to accomplish that she 
would have been carried by the tide as far as North Brother 
Island. 

"On the New York shore are rocks suddenly falling off to 
a depth of seventy to eighty feet, down which, had she 
attempted to ground, she would have slid, when she sank, with 
all those aboard. 

"South Brother Island offered only a bad rocky shore, and 
Riker's Island was too far away, so that the only alternative 
was to send her where she was beached, out of the tide and on 
a sandy bottom. To have sent her into a dock on the New 
York side would probably have fetched her up alongside of 
one of the naphtha boats that always lie there, and think what 
would have happened then!" 



CHAPTER IX 

HISTORY OF THE GENERAL SLOCUM 

Built in 1891 — Made Entirely of Wood — Overhauled and Inspected Shortly 
Before Disaster — A Victim of Many Mishaps — Present Laws Which 
Govern Inspection of Steamboats — Same Accident May Occur to Any 
Excursion Steamer — Stop the Building of Boats with Flimsy Upper 
Decks — A Boiler Always a Danger Spot — Age of the Boat Does Not 
Count. 

The General Slociim was built in i8qi by Divine Burtis, Jr., 
in Brooklyn. It was built for the Knickerbocker Steamboat 
Company, and at that time was one of the handsomest and 
most perfectly equipped excursion steamers in this port. 

It was launched April i8, 1891. As soon as it was com- 
pleted it was used for summer excursions by churches, Sunday 
schools, and various societies, and when not chartered for 
those purposes ran as a public excursion boat. It was built 
chiefly of white oak, locust, and yellow pine. It was 235 feet 
long on the water line and 250 feet on deck. It was seventy 
feet beam on the deck and drew about seven feet of water. 
The Slocum had three decks, also built of wood, which 
extended the entire length of the vessel. The pilot house 
was on the hurricane deck, and on this deck were lifeboats, 
and rafts, the boats being hung on davits outboard and the 
rafts lying on deck at the outside rail. 

WAS THOROUGHLY INSPECTED 

The boat was thoroughly overhauled this year before going 
into commission, and v^as inspected as required by law. 



132 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Inspector Henry Lundberg, of the local board of steamboat 
inspectors, thoroughly examined the vessel five weeks ago. 
The Slocum had a large steam fire pump, with a hose that 
extended the entire length of the vessel. It only was neces- 
sary for the engineer to open a wheel valve and the full force 
of water was ready for those who wanted it. It also had two 
hand pumps and hose, and these two together extended the 
length of the vessel. It carried six lifeboats and four life 
rafts. The boats and rafts would carry about 250 persons. 
There were on board 2,550 life preservers. On the inspection 
license issued the Slocum could carry 2,500 passengers. 

A SERIES OF MISHAPS 

The General Slocum had had many mishaps since it was 
launched thirteen years ago, but none serious. On Aug. 14, 
1891, four months after it was launched, it ran aground on a 
mud bank at Rockaway Beach, and two days later it ran into 
the steamer Monmouth off pier 6, North River, and was 
slightly damaged. 

While returning from Rockaway Beach on July 29, 1894, it 
ran aground at Rockaway Inlet, and there was a panic among 
the passengers. On August 15th of that same year it went 
aground off Manhattan Beach in a storm. The passengers 
were taken off by the steamboat Angler and brought to the 
city. 

On Sept. I, 1894, the Slocum backed into the tug Robert 
Sayre and was disabled. At that time it had 400 passengers 
on board and it drifted helplessly until picked up by two tugs. 
It collided on July 8, 1898, with the steam lighter Amelia off 
pier 12, East River. 

On July 14, 1901, the Slocum with 750 passengers aboard 



HISTORY OF THE GENERAL SLOCUM i33 

went aground on a bar about five miles off Barren Island. It 
was on the way back to the city after having made a short 
excursion out to sea. 

On June 15, 1902, when it had 2,0(X> passengers on board, it 
stuck hard and fast on a bar in Jamaica Bay, and the passen- 
gers were on board a greater part of the night. They finally 
were tak-en ashore in small boats. On July 6, 1Q02, the Slo- 
cum and the Thomas Patten collided off the battery 

AN OFFICIAL OPINION 

General Dumont of the steamboat inspection department 
in New York City spoke freely about the present laws which 
govern inspection of steamboats. He said that the same con- 
ditions which ended in the awful disaster on board the Gen- 
eral Slocum exist on every steamboat in New York engaged 
in excursion business. "The laws of the United States," he 
said, "lay down certain rules as to the inspection of steam- 
boats. We have to see that a boat carries only a safe number 
of passengers according to her tonnage. In the case of the 
General Slocum she could only carry, according to law, 2,500 
passengers. It is conceded that she did not carry anywhere 
near her legal quota. 

"The law, however, does not touch upon the construction 
of a boat. She may have a wooden hull or a steel hull. That 
is all within the province of her designers and owners. We 
have to determine just whether her hull is seaworthy and con- 
structed in a safe manner. 

MADE ATTRACTIVE TO THE EYE 

"In the case of the General Slocum, her hull was of wood. 
Next, the General Slocum had all of her upper works built of 
wood. She was painted and varnished and generally made 



134 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

attractive to the eye, so that passengers on excursions could 
have pleasing surroundings. In this she was just like her sis- 
ter ship of the same line, the Grand Republic, or, in fact, like 
the Coney Island boats, the Starin Glen Island boats, the 
Staten Island Line vessels or any other line or individual 
excursion boat that plies New York harbor. 

"All of this paint plastered on thin and flimsy joiner work 
makes highly intlammable material. People off for a holiday, 
men especially, smoke cigars and cigarettes. Women and 
men read papers and throw them away. There is a puff of 
wind while the boat is going fast through the water, thus cre- 
ating a breeze. A newspaper is blown under a seat, a lighted 
end of a cigar or cigarette touches the paper and in a second 
there is a blaze. Unless a fire on any excursion boat in our 
harbor to-day can be quelled immediately there is little hope 
for the people aboard. The only way to stop such disasters 
as hajipened aboard the General Slocum is to stop the build- 
ing of boats with flimsy upper decks. 

THERE IS NO LAW TO STOP IT 

"There is no law to stop this manner of building boats. 
We do not make the laws. That is up to Washington. We 
only try to enforce the law as we find it. In this case we have 
done so. So far as the General Slocum is concerned we feel 
that our board has fully attended to its duty. The boat 
Slocum was certainly equipped in every way with the require- 
ments of the law. I am candid in saying that there is not an 
excursion boat in New York harbor to-day that is not liable to 
the same accident. All are in danger of fire, and fire is the 
most deadly peril to be feared. 

"A good many years ago I pointed out that another danger 



HISTORY OF THE GENERAL SLOCUM 135 

spot on the excursion boat was about the boiler. A boiler 
with a fire in it is always a danger spot. The laws ought to 
be changed so that no flimsy joiner work is used in any boat 
designed for excursion traffic, and all boilers should be fully 
sheeted in steel. Then the public can be carried in safety. 

PASSENGER ON ISAAC NEWTON 

"I have known all this since 1880. I was then a passenger 
on the old Isaac Newton, which was burned on her night trip 
to Albany off Fort Lee, and several persons were killed. I 
saw then the dangers of the light wooden material. 

"The fact that the Slocum was old did not make her any 
more unsafe. If a boat is thoroughly overhauled yearly, age 
does not count. The Mary Powell, now plying on the Hud- 
son River, is thirty-five years old, but she is as safe as any of 
the modern boats. The Sound-going steamers, whenever 
wooden upper works are used, are dangerous. Any boat built 
the way that the General Slocum was is dangerous. The 
wonder to me is not that accidents liappen, but that they do 
not happen more often." 

EXPERT OPINIONS 

It was the opinion of several of the foremost shipbuilders 
and naval architects of New York, that it is possible to con- 
struct vessels of the type of the General Slocum in such a way 
as to make them comparatively safe; but these experts 
believed that the free use of steel in the construction of the 
upper works would involve a greater expense than builders of 
excursion craft are ready to incur. 

These builders and architects believed that a safe boat, 
constructed with bulkheads, corrugated iron partitions and 
fireproof materials, might be built for about twenty to thirty 



136 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

per cent more than the cost of a wooden vessel, such as the 
General Slocum. 

BOATS CAN BE MADS SAFE 

The designers of the New Staten Island ferry boats said 
that they would undertake to build an excursion boat of five 
thousand capacity, in every way as safe from fire as an ocean 
liner, but it would cost more money than builders would pay. 
It could be designed almost entirely of iron and steel, with 
ample deck room, and of a model that could be handled in 
any spot where New York excursion boats go. Such a boat 
would cost from twenty to thirty per cent more than a wooden 
boat of the same capacity. 

But it is not necessary to build iron excursion boats. Take, 
for example, the Hudson River or Fall River line boats. 
They are constructed on the same general plan as the ordi- 
nary excursion boats, yet they are comparatively safe from 
fire, because they have larger and well-trained crews, regular 
and careful inspection, and their passengers are all the time 
under control. 

IRON BOATS NOT NECESSARY 

According to well-known naval authority, the burning of 
wooden ships in warfare taught us to build fire-proof battle- 
ships. We have learned to build safe ships for ocean travel, 
but we are building excursion boats as we built them half a 
century ago. Under present conditions it would not be 
feasible to build iron excursion boats, but practically safe boats 
could be constructed at a cost not much greater than that of 
wooden boats. 

Corrugated iron is not much heavier than wood. Probably 
it would be necessary to have the decks of wood, but much of 



HISTORY OF THE GENERAL SLOCUM 137 

the structure could be of metal. The uprights should be firm, 
but not necessarily large. 

The machinery for putting out fire should be greatly 
improved. There are many precautions that should and prob- 
ably now will be taken for the safeguarding of the lives of 
those who go on excursion boats. But the situation is no 
worse in New York than elsewhere. All over America excur- 
sion craft are of about the same type. It is marvelous that the 
loss of life is not greater. 



CHAPTER X 

THE SPECTACLE FROM THE SHORE 

An Ominous Cloud of Smoke — Enveloped in Flame — A Huddled Mass of 
Women and Children — Bodies in the Wake of the Burning Boat — The 
Dead Tangled in the Debris — A Floating Crematory — Shrieking Mass 
in the Water — The Beach Strewn with Disfigured Dead. 

Tragic in the extreme were the descriptions given by per- 
sons who witnessed the passing of the General Slocum from 
the moment the big excursion steamer passed through Hell 
Gate until she grounded off Hunt's Point, a mass of flame, 
with the passengers who five minutes before had been 
absorbed in the pleasure of their outing fighting for life 
between fire and water. 

THE CHILDREN WERE DANCING 

It was at ten o'clock that the steamer entered Hell Gate. 
The employees of the Astoria ferryboat Haarlaem, which 
passed under the Slocum's stern, said that at that time there 
were not the slightest evidences to foreshadow the disaster 
that was to overtake the General Slocum in a few moments. 
The band was playing the "Marseillaise," the children of the 
St. Mark's Lutheran Sunday school were dancing, after the 
manner of the East Side children, to the stirring music, the 
steamer was decorated with pennants and strings of flags, 
while her decks were bright with the gay summer dresses and 
parasols of women and children. 

As the vessel swept past the Haarlaem, one of the deck 

hands waved to a knot of children who had come to the rail 

138 



THE SPECTACLE FROM THE SHORE 139 

to see the ferryboat pass. The children returned the greeting, 
and presently a good-natured excursionist ovation was given 
to the old Haarlaem. 

Then the Slocum slipped past Mill Rock and the ferry 
employees saw her no more; but several Astoria people said 
that before the steamer disappeared around the bend in the 
river at Hackett's Point there v/as a cloud of white smoke 
hanging over her. This, however, was thought nothing of at 
the time, as the strains of band music were still plainly audible. 
OMINOUS CLOUD OF SMOKE 

But the moment the General Slocum disappeared from the 
sight of the casual watchers at Astoria the steamer attracted 
t!ie attention of Superintendent Grafling of the new gas works 
at Casino Beach. Mr. Grafling noticed that there was some 
smoke coming from the forward part of the vessel. At the 
same moment one of the gas works laborers spoke to the 
superintendent about the smoke, which increased in volume 
every moment. Then it was realized that the vessel was 
on fire, although it was a hard thing to believe, for the band 
was still playing. 

At this time the Slocum was just off the Sunken Meadows. 
While the gas works employees were curiously regarding her 
the band suddenly ceased playing right in the middle of a 
popular air. Simultaneously there came from the throats of 
over fifteen hundred people a cry that was heard from the 
Casino Beach to Riker's Island and the New York shore. 

THE WAIL OF THE WHISTLE 

Superintendent Grafling ran for his field glasses and, when 
he got them focused, he was just in time to see a great sheet of 
flame burst from the cloud of smoke that enveloped the 



140 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

steamer, whose head was now directed straight for the breast 
of North Brother Island. 

The shrieks of the panic-stricken women and children were 
plainly audible on both sides of the river, while over all arose 
the prolonged wail of the Slocum's whistle. The gas works 
people say that not until a few moments before the vessel slid 
in behind North Brother Island did the real catastrophe occur. 
But the huddled mass of women and children were discernible 
on the hurricane and 'tween decks, while above all a long 
flagstring, the lower part of which had been eaten through by 
the flames, was flying frantically loose in the breezes of the 
Sound. 

SHRIEKING MASS IN THE WATER 

While Superintendent Grafling of the gas works was watch- 
ing he suddenly saw the starboard rail of the upper deck col- 
lapse, and a huddled, shrieking mass of women fall with the 
burning debris into the water. It was then, according to the 
witnesses around Casino Beach, that the real panic occurred. 
Women and children, nearly all dressed in white or light 
colors, were to be seen leaping wildly from the doomed 
steamer, which a few moments later was obscJured from the 
sight of the gas works people by North Brother Island. 
Superintendent Grafling afterward went to the scene of the 
disaster in a rowboat, but did not care to discuss what he had 
seen when he returned. 

At the same time William Henry Muff, who runs a hotel 
and a boathouse at Steinway, L. I., about a quarter of a mile 
farther up the Sound, was a more active witness of the catas- 
trophe. 

Muff was eating his breakfast on the veranda of the boat- 



THE SPECTACLE FROM THE SHORE 141 

house, when all at once, from behind the hillock known as 
Berrians Island, came the General Slocum in flames. Muff 
dispatched a messenger to Steinway to tell the engineer of the 
steam launch Gloria, which he owns, that the Slocum was on 
fire, and that he wanted steam at once. 

While the engineer was being found the Slocum ran behind 
North Brother Island, but not before Muff had witnessed the 
breaking of the guardrail and the terrible panic that followed. 

COURSE OF FiaE AND SMOKE 

The flame and smoke ascending from the vessel arose from 
behind the island, plainly marking the course of the General 
Slocum, although nothing could be seen of the vessel itself 
except now and then the top of a smokestack. 

Just as the Gloria was about to start to the possible rescue 
of some of the Slocum's passengers a number of reserves from 
the Seventy-fourth Precinct, Long Island City, ran onto the 
wharf and boarded the launch. 

The boat followed directly in the larger vessel's wake, 
picking up bodies as she went along. By the time she arrived 
at the point where the General Slocum was grounded and 
burning to the water's edge, the Gloria had picked up so many 
bodies that before she could be of further service the dead 
had to be turned over to the Fidelity, and the police reserves 
landed on North Brother Island. 

A MASS OF DEBRIS AND BODIES 

"After that," said Muff, "we made a second trip over the 
wake of the Slocum. The water was simply a mass of debris 
and bodies. 

"We came upon a larger mass of floating debris and mixed 
up with it we found several women and children, all tangled 



142 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

together, as if they had fallen in a panic-stricken heap into 
the water with the rail, and gripped one another tighter in 
their death struggle. We had to disengage them one by one 
before we could get them into the Gloria. They were all 
dead. 

"Altogether my engineer and I, assisted by the police, who 
came with us, picked up twenty-two bodies, which we turned 
over to the Fidelity. 

"The saddest thing I saw was the body of a baby which we 
tried to extricate from the wreck, only to find that the seem- 
ing debris was the arms of the infant's mother, who was under- 
neath." 

A FEARFUL SIGHT 

Racing up stream with sheets of flame shooting from every 
part of her, the doomed boat, with its load of burning, mad- 
dened, dying humanity, dropping by twos, threes and groups 
into the water to meet death by drowning, furnished a spec- 
tacle for thousands that drove them frantic. 

Many proved themselves heroes, and fought with the 
energy of giants to save loved ones. Some saved one or two, 
but lost others. Some weeping, almost insane men, parted 
from those they loved by the mad rush of the panic-stricken 
throng, were able to save only their own lives, valueless to 
them when they realized that wives and children had perished. 

A WAKE OF STRUGGLING HUMANITY 

These fought to get to the railings to jump into the water, 
and they pushed those before them over the rail. Men and 
women went mad. Men pushed wives or children into the 
water and then sought to follow and save them by holding 
them up in the water, Others tried to hold to the railing and 



THE SPECTACLE FROM THE SHORE I43 

sides of the vessel, but the fighting crowd behind pushed them 
over and they fell into the river. 

Behind the flaming vessel as she bore on up the stream was 
a wake of struggling humanity. The heads of men, women 
and children bobbed up and down on the foam-crested waves 
for a few minutes and then went out of sight. 

Clusters clung to the sides of the vessel. Flames were 
shooting from all parts of the boat, and as the heat became 
too great the men and women clinging to the sides like flies 
dropped off two and three at a time, then in bunches of half a 
dozen or more. 

The life preservers had saved only a few. Those who had 
been able to get them found that for the most part they were 
old and rotten and would not support a person in the water. 
Mothers who had managed to get some sobbed in despair, 
threw them away and leaped to death in the river with their 
children. 

A MAD RUSH 

Almost with the first cry of fire the throng of excursionists 
became panic-stricken. A few excited inquiries were made, 
men and women glanced about with frightened looks, and 
then came a cloud of smoke and a glimpse of flame. The 
next instant a shriek went up from the women and there was 
a mad rush. 

Mothers rushed to and fro for a moment to find children 
that had been playing about, and men tried to find wives and 
little ones, then all were caught in the mad rush for the sides 
and stern of the boat. Men shouted, women and children 
screamed and shrieked, and the mad fight for life was on. 

In the terrible rush old men, women, girls and little onei 



144 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

were knocked down and trampled into insensibility on the 
decks of the vessel. The band had made a feeble effort for 
an instant to restore calm by trying to play an air, but in a 
moment the musicians were swept from their feet and they, 
too, were fighting for their lives. 

A HELL OF FLAME 

The flames carried back through the boat by the current of 
air caused by the boat's swift rush up stream swept through 
the entire vessel. It spread so quickly that those in the for- 
ward part of the boat were cut off and doomed to a terrible 
death almost in an instant. 

The others on the boat were driven to the after part of the 
decks. Men tried to get life preservers, but only a few could 
reach the racks, the others being carried to the railings by 
the mad rush. 

Then the flames began their deadly work. Catching the 
clothing of those on the edge of the throng, the fire drove 
them mad with pain. 

Their bodies licked by flames until they fell and were 
roasted to death, leaping into the river to go down with the 
water bubbling into their lungs, trampled and crushed in a 
mad panic, these thousand merry excursionists, most of them 
women and children, died within a few minutes. 

The horror of the scene was almost beyond conception. 
Men who passed through it and lived were dazed and seemed 
to remember little of what happened. There were terrible 
incidents seared on their brains, but for hours they seemed 
unable to realize the whole horror of the holocaust. 

An eye-witness who saw much of what happened to the 
boat said: 




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THE SPECTACLE FROM THE SHORE 145 

"The steamer's whistle was blowing for assistance as she 
came up the river. I saw several persons jump into the water 
before she was headed for the northwest shore of North 
Brother Island. Her position in the water made it impossible 
for those aboard to reach land except by swimming. I saw 
perhaps fifty or a hundred persons, mostly women and chil- 
dren, jump overboard. Most of the throng was on the hurri- 
cane deck when I plainly saw a part of it collapse. Many 
must have been killed instantly. The greatest loss of life was 
caused by the collapsing of the upper deck. It fell with a 
crash soon after the fire started, crushing hundreds of persons 
who had gathered on the lower deck. It was then that the 
greatest panic ensued amid the living stream of persons going 
over the rail into the water," 



CHAPTER XI 

HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES 

Clara Hartmann's Story — Alive, but Tagged with a Deathmark of Identifica- 
tion — Thrilling Story — Boyish Pluck — Clung to a Paddlewheel— APile 
of Heads, Legs and Arms — Hair and Clothing on Fire — Dragged under 
Water — Plucked from the Waves. 

The story of twelve-year-old Clara Hartmann was prob- 
ably the most remarkable one among the many tales told by 
survivors of the General Slocum disaster. The seemingly 
dead body of the little girl had been picked up by the crew of 
a launch already laden beyond its capacity with victims of the 
disaster. There was neither time to lift Clara's body from the 
water nor space upon the deck of the launch for another body, 
so a rope was fastened to the waist and the launch towed 
Clara to the pier at the foot of East One Hundred and 
Thirty-eighth street. 

AISUPPOSED CORPSE 

Clara was the last to be raised to the wharf, where a man 

from a neighboring coal yard wrapped what he supposed to be 

the corpse of the little girl in a tarpaulin. Then Clara was 

loaded on a truck with a dozen dead bodies of women and 

children and was transported to the Alexander avenue police 

station. The bodies were taken from the truck and laid in a 

row, according to their number, on the floor of the station 

house. 

146 



HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES 147 

ASKED FOR HER DEATH TAG 

Clara's number was twenty-four, twice her age. She said 
she never would forget that number, and she asked the sergeant 
of the station house to give her the death tag which the kind 
surgeon removed from her dress when it was discovered that 
she was alive. She will save the tag as a memento of her dual 
escapes from death and being sent to the morgue. 

"THIS GIRL IS ALIVE" 

It was a woman volunteer who had entered the station 
house to aid the police and the doctors to establish identifying 
marks of the dead women and children, who made the dis- 
covery that "No. 24" was yet alive. She was examining the 
child's clothing, when a sudden convulsive movement Indicated 
the presence of life. A moment later the woman's cries of 
"This little girl is alive! Come, quick!" at once brought the 
doctors and nurses to Clara's side. Their prompt attendance 
and efforts saved the girl's life. 

HELD HANDS AND THEN JUMPED 

"I shall never forget when mamma and sister Margery said 
'God help us!' when they saw the fire come up out of the front 
end of the boat, and the people, many of whom we knew, 
began to rush around the big boat," said Clara. "Mamma 
called me to her and she took hold of Margery's hand and 
mine and she said, 'Stay with me.' 

"Margery only recently graduated from the public school 
and was confirmed, and I was proud of her. She was a good 
sister, but she and mamma are lost now. I don't see how they 
could have reached the shore. Mamma and Margery and I 
remained on the boat, still holding hands, until the flames got 
awfully close and hot. Everybody was then jumping Into the 



I4S NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

water, and, as we didn't want to get burned up, we decided to 
jump, too. 

TRIED TO SAVE MOTHER AND SISTER 

"There were so many in the water near where we wanted 
to jump that we had to wait a while before the space was 
clear, and then all jumped together, still holding hands. But 
the moment we got into the water we had to let go of each 
other to do what we could for ourselves. 

"I felt 1 wasn't going down and, seeing Margery and 
mamma near by, I tried to save them, for lliey were struggling 
awfully. Then a lot of swimmers got around us and we were 
separated. I heard Margery say again, 'God save us!' then 
she gave a gasp and sank out of sight. I guess Margery's 
heart gave way. Mamma 1 didn't see after that. 

"While I was keeping afloat a man came near me, and I 
grabbed him around tlie neck, lie was awfully mean, for he 
tried to push me away, but I just hung onto him as hard as I 
could. He tried again to push me away, but I told him that I 
could hold on and we would soon be ashore, but he pushed 
harder than ever, and my head went under the water often. 
Then I felt him sinking, and 1 let go, and 1 must have fainted. 
That was the hrst time that I ever fainted in my life. 

SHE LOST CONSCIOUSNESS 

"I don't know what happened to me after that until I came 
to life, they tell me, in the Alexander avenue station house, 
but I must have floated and been picked up by a boat. They 
told me afterward that 1 was towed behind a launch, but I 
didn't' feel it. 

"When I got out of my faint it was in tlu; afternoon, when 
I thought it was yet morning. 1 lu;ard men tramping on the 



HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES 149 

floor and felt I was lying on something very hard and that my 
head was covered. Then there was talk about taking the 
dead people away and then I remembered the fire and the 
people drowning all around me. 

"1 thought that I was still in the water, too. My stomach 
got sick — I had swallowed a whole lot of salty water and I did 
want awfully to get rid of that water. Then it began to gush 
out of my mouth and a woman said, 'This little girl ain't dead/ 
and she called, 'Doctor, doctor!' quick, like that. 

TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL 

"They pulled the cover off my head and I began to feel 
very much better and the air came to me. It felt good, too. 
They took me up from the floor and put me on a soft couch, 
and then I was taken to the hospital, where they treated me 
nicely. I cried when I remembered mam,ma and Margery, 
but the hospital nurses told me they were safe, but they 
haven't come home yet. 

"Willie Reitz, my cousin, found me in the hospital and I 
was glad to see him. lie is only thirteen, but he went around 
to all the hospitals looking for me, Margery and mamma, he 
told me when the nurses let him come to my couch. He 
hurried home and they brought me clothes and took me here. 

"Pauline Jordan, of No. 37 Third avenue, who plays with 
mc, was in the next cot to me in the hospital, and we talked 
over the excursion and the fire while we were getting better. 
I think Pauline lost her mamma, too, and her sister Catherine 
was dreadfully burned. 

"I am going to have my hair cut off to-day, for it is all 
matted and can't be combed out. I hate to lose my curls, but 
the hair will grow out again." 



150 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

SAVED A LITTLE GIRL 

"I seized a life preserver," said a boy survivor, "and pulled 
down the wire netting, and half a dozen life preservers fell to 
the floor. The first one I picked up came to pieces in my 
hands. It was full of straw. The next one also came to 
pieces. It was full of powdered cork. I tried all the six life 
preservers, and they were all rotten. The stuff they were 
made of tore all apart. 

"So I had to jump overboard just as I was. A little girl 
grabbed me by the back of my collar and held on tight. I did 
not try to get rid of her. I swam to the shore, where one of 
the nurses took the child from my back, and then I turned and 
swam back to where I saw a little girl held up by a life 
preserver. 

"She grabbed me first b}^ the heel, then by the hand, out I 

brought her near shore and one of the nurses threw us a 

rope." 

CLUNG TO A PADDLE BLADE 

Said Mrs. Lena De Luccia: "My life was saved by cling- 
ing to a paddle blade while the fire burned furiously around 
me, blistering my hands and face. The torture was terrible. 
I had lost my baby and was separated from my three other 
children, whom I have since heard from. When the fire 
started I picked up my baby and told my other children to 
cling to me. I was close to the rail when a wave of frenzied 
women and children forced us overboard. I was just about 
to abandon hope and let go, for the blaze was right over me, 
when a rowboat came along and I was picked up." 

PICKED UP BY A BOAT 

"I was on the railing when the fire started," said George 
Heinz, "and I was pushed over by the rush. Before I fell I 



HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES 151 

saw a little boy with pretty light curls looking up. Then a big 
sheet of flame came and his face was burned beyond recogni- 
tion. I can still see that little fellow. I was in the water only 
a minute when I was picked up by a boat. My brother, 
Henry Heinz, who was struck dumb with fright, was able to 
speak to-day for the first time since the disaster. I stood right 
alongside of the lifeboats and not once was an attempt made 
by any of the crew to launch them. Instead, the men acted 
as if they were crazy. They were worse than the women. 
The captain was yelling at them to do something, but they 
gave no heed to him." 

TOO AWFUL TO REMEMBER 

"It was too awful to remember about," said Susan Schulz, 
"and I wish I could forget it all. Such tearing, pushing and 
hauling I never saw before. In the water it was worse. 
Women fought for small pieces of board, grabbed each other 
for support, some of them begging others to save their chil- 
dren. I could not tell you all the things that passed through 
my mind. The blaze sprang up all of a sudden. Then the 
wild rush began. I don't know how I got into the water, but 
after I had been in a short time I felt a sort of suffocation. I 
could not breathe. My ears tingled and I seemed to hear 
sounds like music afar off. I don't remember any more until 
I found myself on the island with the doctor working over me. 
Later I was taken to Lincoln Hospital." 

GAVE UP HOPE 

Mrs. Mary Waurer said: "When the fire started and the 
crowd began to rush, I got excited as I felt myself carried 
along to the side of the boat. I don't remember whether I 



152 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

jumped, for I was pretty badly burned, or was pushed over- 
board. In the water I grabbed at a man but missed him. 
Then I tried to catch hold of a life preserver, but just as I was 
about to seize it it sank. I gave up hope, thinking I was going 
to be drowned. I felt a ringing sensation in my head and 
seemed as if I were going to fall asleep, when somebody 
grabbed me and pulled me aboa-rd a boat. I was taken to 
North Brother Island and from there sent to Lincoln 
Hospital." 

SOMEBODY SHOUTED, "FIRE!" 

"I was on the top deck," said William Vassner, "when some 
one shouted 'Fire!' Everybody tried to jump and I tried to 
jump, too, but there were so many ahead of me that I couldn't. 
I kept getting pushed back from the railing, so I grabbed a 
post. Just then the deck caved in and the people went crash- 
ing down with it. It was an awful sight — a big pile of heads, 
legs and arms, like a football game, only a thousand times 
worse. I clung to the pole about two minutes and then 
jumped into the water. I was not afraid, for I knew that I 
could swim as well as any one on the East Side. I swam 
around to five different tugs, but they were filled with women 
and children who couldn't swim. I helped three little fellows 
to board, and then, getting tired, I swam toward a launch that 
had only a few on it. I had to push bodies out of my way 
to reach it. A very large and stout woman grabbed me 
and pulled me under water. When I came up I was pulled 
aboard the launch. So was the big woman. I didn't find out 
her name, but when we got to Riker's Island she was alive. 
The life preservers were no good. As fast as any one tried to 
use them they would burst open or the straps would come off." 



HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES 153 

MUST HAVE FAINTED 

The following statement is from Mrs. Albertina Lembach: 
"My attention was first attracted to the fire by the screams of 
the women. I saw a big sheet of flame shoot up the stairway, 
and, gathering my five children about me, I told them to cling 
tight to me. Pastor Haas ran forward to try to calm the 
screaming women, and Mrs. Haas got her children and told 
me to stay on the boat as long as we could. Then there was a 
fearful rush. People ran shrieking to the rail and it gave way, 
letting most of them fall into the water. In the rush three of 
my children were swept away. Taking the two remaining 
under my arms, I prepared to jump. The flames had ignited 
my clothing, and my face and neck were burned. A man 
rushed past me and jumped. I think it was one of the crew. 
As he jumped his arm struck me and I fell into the water with 
my children. I tried to cling to them, but must have fainted, 
for I don't remember anything more until I found myself in 
the Lincoln Hospital. All my children perished except Her- 
man, my oldest boy." 

LIFE PRESERVER OF NO USE 

Said Walter Mueller: "After papa tied the life preserver 
around me I jumped into the water. The life preserver was 
of no use, for it broke right off me and I thought I was going 
to drown. I grabbed a man's neck and went under the water. 
When I came up again I seized a woman by the hair and she 
scratched my face. I let go of her and was sinking again 
when a man in a boat picked me up." 

SAVED BY A DEAD MAN 

Katherine Jordan, the last of the General Slocum victims 
in the hospital of the Department of Correction on Riker's 



154 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Island, stated that, had it not been for the dead body of an 
unknown man, she would surely have drowned, despite the 
fact that she wore a life preserver. She said: 

"Instead of being supported by the life preserver I wore, I 
found that it was of no use to me at all. I could not keep my 
head above the waves. In my desperation I grasped for any- 
thing that might be within reach and my hand fell across the 
corpse of a man that was floating past. 

"Getting a secure hold on it, and kicking my feet as fast as 
I could, I managed to keep alive until picked up by a tug." 

Miss Jordan was terribly burned about the face and arms. 

A LUCKY BOY 

John Roseman, eleven years old, walked into the informa- 
tion bureau established in St. Mark's Church and said he 
wanted to contradict a report that he had been drowned. His 
name appeared on the missing list in the newspapers. He 
said he had intended to go on the excursion, but, just as the 
boat was about to leave, a member of the church committee 
discovered him and put him back on the pier. Roseman was 
told that he was lucky, and he said he guessed he was. One 
of his companions, who knew he had gone on board the Slo- 
cum before she started up the river, had reported Roseman as 
missing. 



CHAPTER XII 
A HOUSE OF LAMENTATION 

Thriving Neighborhood Plunged in Woe— Once Happy Church Turned into 
a Place of Mourning — Sorrow for the Lost — Woeful Trips of the Under- 
takers' Wagons— The Missing— St. Mark's Church an Old One— The 
Streets Thronged With Mourners — Crowds Round the Church — People 
Clamoring for Information — Crape-Hung Doorways. 

The burning of the General Slocum changed the entire 
aspect of New York's swarming East Side and filled the 
streets with lamentations and made the tens of thousands 
almost forget their business, their pleasures, and even their 
individual troubles. Not a block but mourned from East 
Fourteenth to Houston street, and a few that did not feel the 
shock directly or indirectly through the lower part of the city. 

GRIEF-STRICKEN GROUPS 

From the time when the first news of the disaster reached 
the neighborhood of the Evangelical Lutheran German 
Church until the early hours of the next morning, every street 
and alley resounded with the weeping of the grief-stricken 
fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters of the victims. 
On every tenement stoop groups of excited men and women 
talked of nothing but the great disaster. In front of the 
church thousands gathered to read the hastily prepared bulle- 
tins posted there. Hundreds of carriages and wagons passed 
to and fro throughout the afternoon and evening, each bring- 
ing home some injured survivor of the steamboat or restoring 

155 



156 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

to their waiting relatives those who had been fortunate 
enough to escape unscathed. 

A little before noon a woman alighted from a Second 
avenue car at Sixth street, the tears streaming down her face, 
and her hand clinching an afternoon newspaper in which was 
the first news of the disaster. She rushed to the church, half 
a block away, and, upon finding the doors closed, fell weeping 
and hysterical to the sidewalk. 

THE FIRST TIDINGS 

It was the first tidings Sixth street had received of the 
accident. The woman was the first of the hundreds who had 
lost kin or friends on the excursion boat. Ten minutes after 
her arrival the whole vicinity was aroused. Newsboys with 
extra editions thronged the sidewalks. In front of the church 
a crowd had collected. Another excited crowd had gathered 
into Seventh street, and was vainly seeking information at the 
home of the Rev. G. C. F. Haas, pastor of the church. 

PASTOR'S SON'S SUFFERING 

Inside the minister's house his nineteen-year-old son, the 
only member of the family who had not gone on the excur- 
sion, was hearing over the telephone that his parents, two 
aunts, and a sister were supposed to have perished in the 
flames. Hours passed before he heard of his father's safety. 

While the streets round about grew more excited and scat- 
tered survivors began to find their way down town from hos- 
pitals or police stations or piers, the minister's house became 
a general bureau of information, and a score of the family's 
friends went in to give their aid. 



A HOUSE OF LAMENTATION 157 

AN ESTABLISHED CUSTOM 

From these church members and from the church records 
in the house, it was learned that the annual excursion of the 
Sunday school had been a custom of the last seventeen years. 

The picnic was organized by the Social Committee of the 
Sunday school teachers, most of whom are young unmarried 
women. Miss Mary Abendschein of 325 East Eighteenth street 
was chairman of the committee. The tickets — costing fifty 
cents for adults and twenty-five cents for children — were dis- 
tributed among the scholars to be sold. While most of them 
undoubtedly went to German Lutherans, not a few were held 
by others. Among the excursionists was a scattering of Jews, 
Italians, and others. 

Although lunch-counter privileges were sold for the steam- 
boat, most of the provisions, such as sandwiches, ice cream 
and the like, were contributed by church members, and, 
according to the annual custom, many who bought tickets 
never intended to go on the trip, but meraly paid to help 
along the outing. Locust Grove, on the Sound, had been the 
picnic grounds of the Sunday school ever since the church 
members could remember, and the start always had been 
made from the same pier — at the foot of East Third street, 

STUDENTS CAME FROM ALL OVER 

The students, like the teachers, came from varied districts, 
though most of them were of the East Side. There were 
some from as far away as Hoboken and Flatbush. The 
church for fifty-seven years has been growing steadily, and its 
membership spread more than ever in the twenty-seven years 
of Mr. Haas's pastorate. It was estimated that practically all 
of the five hundred students were on the excursion. Added 



158 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

to these were the scores of infants in arms, mothers, invited 
friends, and a few fathers and other male relations. 

"The proportion of men was very small," said the Rev. 
John A. W. Haas, brother of the minister of the church and 
formerly pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in New York. 
"Among the children were many so small that their mothers 
took them aboard the boat in baby carriages." 

A BUREAU OF INFORMATION 

The crush of anxious relatives became so great around the 
pastor's house that it was decided shortly after noon to estab- 
lish a temporary bureau of information in the church in Sixth 
street. Long tables were placed just inside the entrance, and 
conspicuous bulletins were posted outside, announcing that 
survivors should report their safety inside, and that relatives 
should come in to inquire about those who were missing. 

Within a few minutes the street was packed from Second 
avenue to First avenue. A score of policemen, detailed to 
keep order, were busy all day and night maintaining the line 
of those who wanted to enter. As news came from the scene 
of the wreck it was posted outside. Before nightfall the 
church members sitting at the inquiry tables had catalogued 
hundreds of names, sent out as many alarms to the police, 
and listened to the weeping stories of scores of those who had 
lost their relatives or in some cases their whole families. 

EXHAUSTED WITH GRIEF AND FATIGUE 

Wednesday night a quiet, grief-stricken crowd stood in 
front of St. Mark's Church, in Sixth street, until a cheerless 
dawn found them, exhausted with grief and fatigue, lying and 
sitting on the sidewalks, still patiently waiting for news. All 
night the police and newspaper men had taken lists of the 



A HOUSE OF LAMENTATION 159 

dead, the saved and missing to the church, but no sooner had 
some one in the crowd been made happy by the announce- 
ment that some loved one had been saved than a fresh Hst of 
dead was posted. 

At first only lists of the dead were put up by the informa- 
tion bureau on the outside of the church, but a teacher in one 
of the public schools urged on behalf of the people gathered 
in front that a list of the saved be also given out. Those in 
charge of the bureau did this at once, and many waiting an 
opportunity to enter the church learned that their children 
had been saved 

UNDERTAKERS' WAGONS BUSY 

All day hearses and undertakers' wagons rumbled through 
the streets. Sometimes when they stopped only a tiny coffin 
would be taken off, to be carried into a tenement house under 
the arm of the driver. Across the street would be another 
wagon, piled to the roof with seven or eight coffins containing 
the bodies of women and children. There was scarcely a 
house in the district bounded by East First and Twelfth 
streets and Avenue A and Third avenue, but had at least one 
knot of crape on its door. Directly in front of St. Mark's is 
the home of August Dippert, whose entire family, mother, 
wife and three children, perished. 

The undertakers in the neighborhood did not know how 
they could handle the situation. Every establishment had 
already reached its full capacity and orders were piling in. 
All their rooms were small, and many of the undertakers had 
to refuse to care for any more bodies. They were also ham- 
pered by the relatives of the dead. When one or two in the 
family were missing, the relatives would ask the undertakers 



i6o NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

to delay the funerals in the hope that the others might be 
found 

FOURTEEN DEAD IN ONE HOUSE 

As each hearse drove through the streets it was followed 
by men and women until it stopped in front of some house. 
Once there and the identity of the victim established, the 
crowd did not press around the wagon, but silently retracexl 
its steps, waiting for the next wagon. 

In one house in Seventh street five pieces of crape, all 
white, were tied to the door, but fourteen children lay dead 
there. In other houses the one or two pieces of fluttering 
crape failed to indicate the sorrow behind the doors, for 
often a streamer represented the death of four or five chil- 
dren in a single family. 

All day Thursday, as when the news of the disaster first 
reached the district, groups of sad-eyed men and women stood 
on corners and on the stoops of houses, drearily waiting for 
news. At the foot of the steps leading to the Eighth street 
and Ninth street stations of the elevated road were other 
groups waiting for those who had been discharged from the 
hospitals. As the burned, dazed survivors came down they 
were almost mobbed by those crazy for information about 
their lost. Too often the survivors could tell only that they 
had seen the friends of the inquirers burn and drown before 
their eyes, and it was seldom that the joyful tidings were given, 
"She is in the hospital, and will be out soon." 

SOENES IN ST. MARK'S 

The affecting scenes that followed the first news of the 
accident were duplicated all day Thursday in front of St. 
Mark's Church. Soon after five o'clock a man reeled into the 



A HOUSE OF LAMENTATION i6i 

church to a seat and broke into sobs, crying aloud the loss of 
his wife and two young daughters. Women, heartbroken 
with their own loss, tried to console him, but he would not be 
comforted, and after a long and bitter prayer he staggered 
into the street again, reeling like a drunken man. Scarcely 
had he gone when a middle-aged woman cried out hysterically 
from the steps of the church that her daughter and grandson 
were dead. It was long before she could be quieted. Later 
in the day a young woman, scarcely more than a girl, learned 
at the church that her six-months-old boy, her firstborn, whom 
her sister had taken to the excursion, was dead, with his aunt. 
She burst out laughing, and it was not until a physician had 
given her an opiate that she could be moved to her home. 

Coupled with scenes like these was the quiet, subdued 
weeping of men and women. Now and then a woman would 
reel and faint as she heard the names of her dead called out. 
Those fortunate enough to have their people return to them 
rushed at once to the bureau of information to have the names 
stricken from the list of dead and missing and to give such 
news as the saved ones had been able to tell. 

SIX WENT AWAY, ONE RETURNED 

Andrew Ottinger stood before his home and kept watch 
for his wife and two little ones, who, he had been assured by 
his friends, had certainly lost their lives with the burning and 
sinking of the steamer. But Ottinger kept hoping against 
hope. Two others of his children, Charley and Emma, twins, 
fifteen years old, were lying at the morgue dead, and of the 
mother and five children who set out in the morning to enjoy 
the excursion only Willie, the thirteen-year-old son, came 
limping in late at night from the hospital, badly burned. 



i62 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Willie Ottinger said that when the steamer caught fire he 
was with his mother and his two younger brothers, Andrew, 
seven years old, and Arthur, five years old, on the lower deck. 

SAID SOMETHING LIKE A PRAYER 

"We saw the boat was going to burn up," said the small 
survivor, "when mamma grabs a life preserver and wants to tie 
it around me, but I told her I could swim and to hurry and put 
it on one of my brothers. With that she said something like 
a pra^'er and then pushed me into the water. 

"I kept swimmin' around awhile, and saw mother fixin' the 
life preserver about the little boys, and after a long time I 
was picked up by some men on a tugboat. The first thing I 
did I looked over to the Slocum and saw one of my little 
brothers bein' led along by the hand by the captain of the 
boat. Then I don't remember nothin' else until I finds myself 
in the hospital." 

The bodies of Emma and Charley Ottinger were found in 
the water. The girl was clasped in the arms of a schoolmate. 

TOO YOUNG TO COMPREHEND 

At No. 1 19 Seventh street, a few doors away from the 
Ottinger home, a little golden-haired girl was playing about a 
bunch of white crape tied with pretty fiowers. This was the 
Schmindling home, and the little girl looked up at the visitors 
and volunteered: 

"Annie is dead, and Georgie is dead, and " The bodies 

of Annie and George, fifteen and eighteen years old, had been 
brought home, and were lying upstairs. 

THEY MISS MOTHER GALEWISKI 

Two doors farther down the street, at No. 123, there were 
two other pieces of crape, one of black and one of white. 



A HOUSE OF LAMENTATION 163 

Still farther on, a little distance, is Tompkins Square, and 
among those who sat under the shade of the trees were a 
number of men and women with handkerchiefs to their faces, 
as if they had come to this, the quietest spot, to grieve alone. 
The shaded square recalled the death on the ill-fated excur- 
sion of A.nna Galewiski — "Mother Galewiski," as she was 
known all over the neighborhood — a fine little gray-haired 
Samaritan who for many years was in the habit of taking 
large herds of children out into the square on fine days and 
minding them all day long while their mothers were at work. 
Down Avenue A, one block, past a busy undertaker's shop, 
where the sobs of women were heard at intervals in the crowd 
that gathered about the incoming dead wagons, to Sixth 
street, and here on door after door were the emblems of 
death, crape and flowers. At No. 430 a knot of sad-faced 
women and awe-stricken children were gathered. Two fam- 
ilies in this house had been almost entirely wiped out in the 
catastrophe. 

SUBSCRIPTION BUREAU STARTED 

Under the leadership of Rev. F. Holter of the Lutheran 
Church in Summit avenue, Jersey City, a subscription bureau 
for the needy was established in the churchyard. Mr. Holter 
sat at a table taking small and large contributions. As soon 
as the crowd discovered what was afoot there was a rush to 
reach the minister, and hundreds of hands were thrust toward 
him with dimes, quarters and bills. 

An old man, apparently a day laborer, his hands grimy 
from his toil, shyly laid a penny on the table and then ran 
away as fast as he could, brushing the tears from his eyes as 
he went. A woman, her face covered by a veil, sobbing so 



i64 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

that she could be heard across the street, pushed her way into 
the Hne of poHcemen to contribute a half dollar. So it went 
on all day, until the minister had nearly $i,ooo in the after- 
noon, most of it composed of very small gifts. A majority of the 
givers refused to tell their names. 

HUNDREDS STUNNED BY GRIEF 

The overwhelming numbers of dead recovered and identi- 
fied replaced the desperate uncertainty that pervaded hun- 
dreds of homes by the stunning realization of grief, and the 
calm that fell upon the parish was strangely pitiful, striking a 
keener inward agony than even did the first horror of the 
disaster. 

Friends and relatives met and passed in the streets, 
exchanging silent glances of mutual sympathy that estab- 
lished a kinship of grief which will unite these people for life. 
In the faces of scores there was a dull wonder that showed 
their affliction was multiplying upon them as they struggled to 
thread together the whole terrible picture. 

Only a few hours before they were looking forward to a 
fete day, a day that was to mark one festive and joyous occa- 
sion throughout the year. For days their children had prat- 
tled gleefully about the long-looked-for excursion; mothers 
and fathers had related to the youngsters the freedom and 
abandon they would have in their play, the unstinted supply 
of ice cream, soda water, cakes and other delectables that 
made their mouths water and their hearts leap as they 
dreamed. 

Then came the early morning of preparation, when the 
entire district rang with the cries and laughter of children, the 
happy greetings of the elders and the delightful bustle and 



A HOUSE OF LAMENTATION 165 

hurry preparing for a gala day. Finally the hurrying of the 
little feet, barely touching the ground in their prancing 
delight, to the pier, and last that half hour on the big steamer 
vibrating from stem to stern with the mirth of old and young. 

PICTURES OF GRIEF AND MISERY 

After the minds of those stricken ones revolved this pic- 
ture before them, it was no wonder their reason began to 
waver when there descended upon them the unspeakable 
thought of what followed; when the mothers and fathers 
looked upon the little bodies, bruised and burned; when par- 
ents heard their own little ones cry for "mamma," "sister" and 
"brother." 

Feebler and feebler did these cries become, followed by 
that paralyzing hush of misery that made itself felt in every 
corner of the little district. Ere night fell, friends and rela- 
tives ceased questioning one another. One glance from face 
to face, and the tongue knew it could not utter any appropriate 
word of sympathy for the grief it saw and felt. 

No sound of the mourning within the big tenements came 
to those who passed in the street, but if one went into the 
little alleys and courts and had the heart or courage to peer 
through the darkened windows of the scores and scores of 
stricken homes, he would see such pictures of grief and mis- 
ery as would live forever in the memory. 

Long before the hour set for the funerals held in the parish, 
crowds of sympathizing friends and neighbors began to col- 
lect about the homes where the hearses and carriages stood. 

POLICEMEN GUARD EACH FUNERAL 

There were none of the idly curious in these throngs, and 
the ten policemen stationed to guard each funeral cortege 



i66 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

had not to lift a finger of warning to child or elder. In every 
window that looked out upon these hearses, to one of which 
three little white caskets were borne, the shades were drawn, 
even though no dead were within the homes. 

In fact, in every street where mourning emblems were sus- 
pended from the doorways no curious faces could be seen in 
the windows and no groups of young or old were gathered in 
the doorways. Perhaps the most impressive feature of the 
great calm of grief that hung about the neighborhood was the 
entire absence of children on the streets. Usually thorough- 
fares and even alleys and courtyards in this district swarm 
with children at play, so that the absolute ceasing of the hum 
of their cries and laughter is more impressive than would be 
the intrusion of singular clamor. 

FLAGS NEAR CHURCH AT HALF-MAST 

The policemen stationed in the parish showed the same 
universal deference, often doffing their helmets as some 
pathetic figure of bereaved old or young passed them and 
went silently into their homes to continue their vigil by the 
dead. 

On all the business houses and schools in the vicinity of 
St. Mark's Church flags hung at half-mast and many of the 
little shop windows contained insignia of mourning as melan- 
choly tokens of sympathy for their patrons. Though the 
majority of the recovered bodies were taken to the homes that 
claimed them, there still continued at brief intervals through- 
out the day the slow rumble of undertakers' wagons bearing 
more corpses of those who perished in the horrible disaster. 



CHAPTER XIII 

STORIES OF EYE-WITNESSES 

Tales of Horror — A Brave "Trusty" — An Unknown Hero — Clinging to the 
Paddle-wheel — The Work of Herbert Farrell — What Captain McGovern 
Saw — Remarkable Child-Bravery — Survivors Commit Suicide — Robbing 
the Dead — Crazed Mothers Hurl Babies into the River — Paddle-wheel 
Choked with the Bodies of Victims — Saw the Hurricane Deck Collapse 
— Fifty Children Perished in the Whirlpool of Hell Gate. 

Probably the first persons who saw the outbreak of fire 
from a point close at hand were Thomas Miley, of No. 629 
East One Hundred and Thirty-seventh street, and John Kain, 
of No. 617 East One Hundred and Thirty-eighth street. The 
young men were in a rowboat within one hundred feet of the 
big excursion steamer. Their impressions are well set forth 
in young Miley's statement, after he and Kain had assisted in 
the work of rescue. 

THERE WAS AN EXPLOSION 

"Both Kain and I were rowing, with our backs toward the 
Slocum," he said, "when we heard a loud report as if an 
explosion had occurred. When I looked around a cloud of 
smoke was hovering above the forward part of the steamboat. 
It seemed only a few moments until flames leaped up, but it 
may have been longer, because my companion and I were 
awe-stricken by the scenes that followed the explosion. 

"Cries of horror went up from every deck and, in an 

instant, it seemed, the rails were swept away as though they 

167 



i68 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

were made of paper. Men, women and children fought, strug- 
gled and shrieked, and those who had been nearest the rails 
were swept from the decks. 

TRAIL OF DYING IN WATER 

"We could see women and children struggling with those 
in the rear, and in their terror they clung to those closest to 
them and dragged them into the water. 

"While this was happening, the Slocum was being run in 
toward North Brother Island. She had been only one hun- 
dred feet or so distant from the island shore when we heard 
the report, but in making the short trip a long trail of strug- 
gling persons was left in the water. Many of them, I think, 
had been crushed to death in the panic before they touched 
the water, and they sank at once from view. 

"Before the steamboat reached the island the clothing of 
those in the forward part was in flames. To escape the fire, 
which was burning more fiercely every moment, many rushed 
toward the stern, which was already filled with persons. 

FLAMES SWEEP OVER DECKS 

"In a short time flames burst from other parts of the ves- 
sel, and the passengers' panic became more terrific. Over the 
sides they were swept from the decks in masses. By this time 
the shore had been reached and the Slocum had been run in 
between two small piers. 

"It seemed to us that the members of the crew remained at 
their posts, for no sooner had the ship been run in than a 
gangplank was run out. Passengers fought and struggled 
with the sailors so that they could scarcely work, and they had 
to make several desperate efforts before they succeeded. 



STORIES OF EYE-WITNESSES 169 

"Almost before the end of the footbridge reached the shore 
the shrieking passengers rushed out on the plank and we saw 
several persons drop into the water as though pushed from 
the sides. In a short time those who were uninjured were 
ashore, but there were some who had been hurt by the strug- 
gle for life aboard the burning boat who could not reach the 
gangplank. 

HEMMED IN BY FIRE 

"Some of the less frightened men rushed back and carried 
these to safety, but there were many, a tugboat captain told 
us, who had been hemmed in by the flames on the lower deck. 
This captain had run his boat alongside and picked up ten 
bodies and saved two little boys. 

"Some of those who had been crowded from the decks 
swam to the shore, but the tide was running strong and every- 
thing was against them. On the shore v/omen rushed up and 
down, crying and shouting for their children. We saw all 
along the shore women in faints. They had succeeded in get- 
ting from the ship safely, but had been overcome by the 
excitement. 

"The tug Wade was the first to go to the rescue. My com- 
panion and I followed and succeeded in recovering two bodies. 
One was that of an aged woman. The other body was tliat of 
a boy, about ten years old. The boy's head was burned and 
his face was bruised, as though he had been injured before he 
was forced into the water. About a hundred feet from the 
Bronx shore was a private yacht with several persons aboard, 
but the}^ made no move. 

"Man}^ must have been hurt in those first rushes toward 
the rail. It seemed that children were trampled under foot. 



170 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

We saw one woman, with a small child in her arms, pushed 
from the deck after the rail had given away." 

THE PORTER'S STORY 

"I was up on deck, by the forward stairway," said Payne, 
the porter, "when -a deckhand came running up to the mate 
and said that something was wrong in the hold — smoke was 
coming out. The mate looked down and came back on the 
jump to give the alarm and get out the hose. I ran down 
and opened the door into the hold. A big puff of fire came 
out at me, and I had to duck under it to get back on deck. I 
ran back and helped get out the hose. It was new. There 
were four lengths of it — two hundred feet long — bought some- 
time about the middle of May, I think. 

"We got a line attached to the big pump, but it was too 
long, and got kind of kinked up and rolled around on the 
deck. Then the great big pump got to working, and just 
forced the v/ater through so fast it tore the hose apart at the 
joint where it was fastened on the pump. I jumped up there 
to see if I could fasten it back, but it was torn. Then I tried 
to shut off the water, but the mate came and did that. 

"I didn't see the chief engineer. The assistant was down 
at the engine. We stayed fighting the fire till the deck fell 
in. The life preservers were all right. I pulled down a lot 
of them. The boats were all right, too, I guess. They 
launched one. I don't know what happened to it. They're 
saying lots of things about a coward crew and want to know 
why it was nobody in the crew got drowned," the porter said 
indignantly, "but every man there worked as hard as he could. 
That boat went up in five minutes. Poof! Just like a powder 
keg. I don't believe there was any explosion at first. There 



STORIES OF EYE-WITNESSES 171 

was one when the oil got afire, all right. I can't say how it 
started; I don't believe any one else can. 

"When the deck fell in I went overboard. I couldn't swim, 
but I learned right then, paddling like a dog. I got around to 
the paddlebox, and I hung there until a boat came, and I 
caught on beliind that and they towed me to shore. After I'd 
been there a while I went out on a towboat and helped pull in 
the people." 

A TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE 

Among the survivors of the General Slocum disaster was 
Mrs. Henry Kassebaum. She said that she regarded her 
escape from death as almost miraculous. Mrs. Kassebaum 
and lier daughter Annette were the only two out of a family 
part}^ of eleven that went on the excursion that survived. 
The other nine were either burned to death or drowned. 

"I hardly know how I lived through the terrors of it all," 
said Mrs. Kassebaum. "We had a jolly party of eleven on the 
boat and were anticipating a fine day's outing. We wanted to 
liear the music on the way up the river and so all of us were 
gathered on the after deck, not more than twenty feet away 
from the band and close to the rail of the deck. 

A PIERCING SCREAM 

"The first intimation we had that there was something 
wrong was when a piercing scream came from the forward 
part of the boat. W^e concluded that some one must have 
fallen overboard and began scanning the water in the wake of 
the boat. But we did not have to wait long to find out what 
the real trouble was. A few seconds after the first scream 
there was a general panic on the forward decks. 

"We could hear the women and children screaming, and an 



172 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

instant later there was a puff of srnoke and flame near the 
bow of the boat that told the story. I realized then that we 
were all in the gravest peril and that if we expected to escape 
with our lives some of us at least must keep cool heads. In 
our party were my daughter Annette, my son-in-law^ and 
daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schnude, and their two little 
children, and my daughter Mrs. Frieda Tonlport, and her two 
little children. In addition to these nine there were the aged 
father and mother of Mr. Schnude. 

MEMBERS OF PARTY SWEPT AWAY 

"The moment I saw the flames I called all of our party 
together and told them quietly tliat if we were to escape alive 
we must stick close together so as to be able to help one 
another. ' I thought the strong among us might be able to 
save the weak. But my words of warning were not more than 
out of my mouth Vv'hen there came such a rush of panic- 
stricken and frenzied people to the stern of the boat that no 
human being could have stood up against it. 

"I clung to the rail with all of my strength and managed to 
hold my place, but when I looked around not one of my fam- 
ily was to be seen anywhere. They had been whisked away 
from me in the mad rush and I did not know v/hat had been 
their fate. By that time there were scores of women and 
children in the water, who had jumped overboard to escape 
the worse fate of being roasted on the boat. 

WATCHED THE MADDENED CROWD 

"At last I managed to get a foot up on the rail by clinging 
with my hands to a post. From that point of vantage I 
watched the maddened crowd in search of mj^ loved ones, but 
they were nowhere to be seen. Just then I saw our pastor, 



STORIES OF EYE-WITNESSES 173 

the Rev. Mr. Haas, with his wife and daughter at the other 
side of the boat. He was trying to protect them from the 
trampHng crowd. Then a minute later I saw them cHmb over 
the rail and all jump into the river together. 

"That seemed to give me an idea of my own peril, and I 
knew that if I expected to escape alive I must decide on some 
course quickly. I took another careful look around to see if 
any of my family were on the boat, but still they were nowhere 
to be seen. Then I decided to take my chances in the water. 
Even then the fire was so near me that my hands and face 
were scorched and blistered and there were holes in my cloth- 
ing that had been burned by the flying sparks. 

SEEMED AN ETERNITY 

'T climbed over the rail and jumped feet first into the 
water. It seemed to me that I sank hundreds of feet, and that 
I should never come to the surface again. But at last I saw a 
flash of light, and that told me I was up where I could get a 
breath of air. I tried to keep myself from sinking again by 
striking out blindly with my hands and feet, and did manage 
to keep up for a few seconds. 

"In that brief time I saw scores of women and little chil- 
dren all about me in the water. They all seemed to be 
drowning. I remember I wondered in a dreamy sort of way 
if any of my children were near me, and if they would be 
rescued. Then my strength failed me, and I sank once more. 
That time I thought I should never see the light again. It 
seemed like an eternity to me. I stopped struggling and 
didn't seem to care any longer whether I ever rose to the top 
or not. 



174 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
CLUNG TO THE PADDLEBOX 

"Just then my head struck against something hard. That 
aroused my flagging senses and I grabbed intuitively at what- 
ever had bumped my head. I caught it with my hands and 
held on. Once I got a breath of air my strength came back a 
little and then I discovered that I was clinging to the paddle- 
box. I held on desperately and a minute or two later a man 
in a small rowboat pulled up close to me. 

"The boatman held out an oar to me and yelled to me to 
grasp it and hold fast. I did so, and he soon hauled me 
aboard his boat. I begged him to look for the other members 
of my family, but he had as many in his boat as it would hold 
and had to go ashore." 

SAW THE FIRE BREAK OUT 

William Halloway, engineer on a dredge working off Law- 
rence Point, Astoria, saw the fire on the Slocum just after it 
broke out. He at once seized his whistle and gave four blasts. 
He says that up to that time there had been no alarm sounded 
from the Slocum. Whether the Slocum sounded an alarm 
after that he does not know, for his four blasts attracted the 
attention of boats in every direction, and four tugs sounded 
their whistles as they raced toward the burning Slocum. 

Halloway says it was 10:05 when he first saw the fire. This 
was according to his clock in the engine-room of the dredge. 
The Slocum was then off the upper end of Randall's Island. 
The fire was on the port side forward. The tugs which 
started toward the burning steamboat were the Wade, the 
Wheeler, the Tracey and the Sumner. 

MIGHT HAVE BACKED THE BOAT 

Halloway declared that had the pilot of the Slocum backed 
his boat when he sounded his whistle, he would have beached 



STORIES OF EYE-WITNESSES 175 

the big steamboat on Casino Beach. Then all could have 
been saved, as it was only a few yards' run and the backward 
motion of the boat would have carried the flames away from 
the boat, whereas by running forward and toward North Brother 
Island the flames were driven directly aft to all parts of the 
boat. This may be explained, perhaps, by a statement made 
by some of the men who were on the tug Wheeler. They said 
that they could distinctly see the men in the pilothouse trying 
to signal the engine-room, but there was no response. 

As the Slocum headed toward North Brother Island the 
Vv^ind swept the flames along to the upper deck, and Hallovvay 
said that within five minutes after he sounded his whistle the 
upper deck caved in on top of the people who were below. 
Pieces of this were floating about in the river later. It was of 
flimsy build, as all such decks are. The thin, light planks were 
laid over light scantlings and all covered with canvas. The 
boat was midway between North Brother and Riker's islands 
when the collapse came, and a minute or so later hit the rocks. 

ANOTHER ACCOUNT FROM AN EYE-WITNESS 

Captain McGovern, who was employed on the same work 
as Halloway, jumped into the steam launch Mosquito when 
the alarm was given, and followed the burning steamboat until 
he had picked up five women and six children. That was all 
he could take, as the little boat was then so loaded that he 
feared she might be swamped. He took the rescued to North 
Brother Island, as he knew there were doctors there, and 
every one of the eleven was suffering. He says that his load 
was the first of the rescued to reach the island, and that after 
he had got them ashore he started back, but found no more 



176 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

living. As he followed the burning steamer Captain McGov- 
ern saw the scenes on her decks. 

"The fire was burning the upper decks, forward," he said, 
"and the women and children had crowded aft. Those in the 
rear part of the boat were swept into the water by the onrush 
of those from the fore part. The pressure against them car- 
ried away the bulwarks, which were of joiner vvork and rope. 
Their giving way allowed great numbers to fall into the water. 
The early collapse of the upper decks was in part due to this. 
The pressure against them carried away the stanchions, and 
the weight on the after part of the decks, added to the weak- 
ness resulting from the breaking of the stanchions, caused the 
decks to give way even before the fire reached them. I saw 
women fall into the water with children in their arms and 
more clinging to their skirts. Others went overboard all afire, 
and some with their hair or hats, it was hard to see which, 
burning. I did not see the worst at that, for when the affair 
was at its worst I was dragging the women and children 
aboard and had not time to look." 



CHAPTER XIV 
IDENTIFYING THE DEAD 

Clothing of Victims Searched for EflFects — The Bodies Carefully Tagged — 
Many Charred Beyond Recognition — Identified by Some Article of 
Clothing or Trinket — Searching for Loved Ones — Remains Sent to the 
Morgue — System for Preventing Mistaken Identification. 

The bodies found on the Bronx shore south of North 
Brother Island after the steamer was beached were piled in 
heaps at the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth street dock 
until the police were organized to handle the great crowds 
that assembled and arrangements made to lay them out for 
identification at the police station in Alexander avenue. 

Then they were carried from the dock to the station in 
patrol wagons as fast as they were brought in by tugs, launches 
and rowboats. Meanwhile police reserves lined the shore. 

WILL BEMEMBER TO HIS DYING DAY 

Inside the station house Coroner Thomas I. Berry of the 
Bronx and his assistants, Dr. Thomas H. Creighton and Dr. 
John H. Riegelman, had made arrangements for identifying 
the dead. The coroner sat at a table in a corner of the room. 
In front of him was piled a heap of identification slips, ready 
to be filled in. The process of filling those in will be remem- 
bered by Coroner Berry to the day of his death. When his 
task was finished he was sick physically and mentally. 

Most of the bodies were carried to the Department of 

Charities pier, and the morgue at the foot of East Twenty- 

177 



178 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

sixth street, where the work of identification was carried on. 
The monotonous shuffling of the feet, as the endless Hne 
moved on, was broken nov/ and then by a scream of a woman 
or the cry of a child, which told that another body had been 
identified. As each identification was made a policeman 
stepped up to the mourner, took the name of the body claimed 
and led the one who made the identification to the coroner's 
office, where the records were kept and permits of removal 
given. 

BODIES PLACED IN DOUBLE ROWS 

The facilities of the morgue were insufficient to accommo- 
date the number of bodies brought in from North Brother 
Island and other places in the vicinity of the disaster. It was 
for this reason that the bodies were laid along the Depart- 
ment of Charities pier; only corpses which were badly burned, 
or charred beyond recognition, were taken to the morgue 
proper. 

All of the bodies brought to the morgue and to the pier 
were wrapped in blankets secured from some of the various 
hospitals which sent aid, or else covered with tarpaulins or 
other coverings which were to be found on the steamers. 

Before the boats reached the docks hundreds of rude pine 
coffins had been secured, the sizes ranging from those for 
babies in arms to adults, and each body was placed in one of 
these coffins before being removed to the morgue or to the 
pier. On the pier the bodies were placed in long double rows, 
so that the line of persons seeking to identify those missing 
might pass up one side and down the other and thus see each 
body laid out. At one time more than two hundred bodies 
were lying side by side on this pier. Each body had been 
tagged with a number, to aid in the work of identification. 



IDENTIFYING THE DEAD 179 

In a steady line, two abreast, the waiting crowd then was 
admitted to the pier, passing out toward the river on one side 
of a row of bodies and coming back toward the land on the 
other side of another row. The boxes in which the bodies 
were placed were emergency affairs, the bodies themselves 
being huddled in as best the men could arrange them in the 
space of time they had to make the arrangements, and it was 
hard work in many cases for the relatives and friends to pick 
out the missing ones. 

POLICE PRECAUTIONS 

Police were stationed every few feet, and theirs was the 
trying task of restraining husbands and fathers from throwing 
themselves in a frenzy on the bodies of wives and children as 
they finally found them in the mute and grewsome line before 
them. Every few minutes a man or a woman would either 
shriek in agony and try to throw himself or herself on a pros- 
trate form, or else would collapse entirely and have to be car- 
ried in a fainting condition to the outer air, to be revived by 
the hospital physicians before they could appear before the 
coroner to give the number of the body identified and secure 
a permit for its removal. 

MANY CHILDREN AMONG THE IDENTIFIERS 

All night there was a line of undertakers' wagons in East 
Twenty-sixth street extending all the way from the pier to 
First avenue, and at times turning well into the avenue. 
Among the persons seeking to identify dead were many chil- 
dren, some not more than four or five years old, who had been 
brought by friends, in whose care they had been left, to 
identify mothers and brothers and sisters. In many cases 
mistakes in identification were made at first, but every precau- 



i8o NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

tion was taken to prevent this and also the false identification 
of any body for the purpose of dishonestly taking possession of 
property belonging to any of the dead. Where missing 
friends and relatives were not found in the line of dead on 
the pier, most of the bodies there being those of victims who 
died by drowning, the persons seeking friends went through 
the morgue proper to look at the burned bodies and the cloth- 
ing that remained. 

A FATHER'S LOVE 

The body of Lena Ackerman, sixteen months old, was 
identified by her father. Mr. Ackerman was walking out on 
the pier when he saw some photographers slant a coffin 
against the side of the pier and attempt to take a picture of 
two bodies therein. He recognized the features of his baby, 
and, rushing forward, tore the body from the coffin. It was 
some time before the police could persuade him to give it up. 

Jacob Michael identified the body of his daughter on the 
island. He was slowly walking along the line of coftins when 
he suddenly halted, and, with a moan, fell to his knees in sev- 
eral inches of water, raised the head of a child and began to 
kiss the cold lips fervently. Earlier in the day the man had 
been to the morgue and had identified the charred body of his 
married daughter, and that of his year-old grandson. The 
bodies of his daughter and grandson had been burned almost 
beyond recognition, but the stricken parent did not seem as 
much affected by that awful sight as he was when he saw the 
little body in the coffm. He had to be dragged from the 
coffin by police and was forced to leave the pier. 

TIDE TOOK HER BODY HOME 

The body picked up in the river farthest from the scene of 
the disaster was that of six-year-old Marguerita Heins, of 300 



IDENTIFYING THE DEAD i8i 

r^ront street, found floating in the river off the foot of Clinton 
street. The body had drifted eight miles, and was picked up 
by the crew of a New York and New Haven Railroad tug 
within a stone's throve of the child's home. 

The child's father, Henry Heins, had been haunting the 
morgue for twenty-four hours in an effort to get some trace of 
the girl. On Wednesday night, while he was at the morgue, 
he had found the body of his wife, Annie, together with that 
of his twelve-year-old daughter, Henrietta, and while he 
inquired for news of his missing daughter, Elsie, aged nine, he 
begged those at the morgue to make a special effort to fmd 
his favorite child, Marguerita. 

He remained at the morgue until his friends took him 
away, and a few minutes later the body of Marguerita arrived in 
a patrol vv'agon. The tug that had found the body had put in 
to the dock at the foot of Clinton street and left the corpse 
there on the pier. It was soon surrounded by a crowd of 
children from the neighborhood of the Heins home, many of 
whom immediately identified their playmate's body. 

"It's Margie Heins," remarked a woman in the crowd, "and 
her home is just up one block and around the corner." 

FAMILIES ALMOST WIPED OUT 

Frederick and Gustave Rheinfrank searched for their two 
families, saying that in the two families fourteen persons were 
missing. They were particularly concerned about their aged 
father and mother, but were unable to find them, and finally 
Frederick obtained permission to go on the Fidelity to North 
Brother Island. Gustave waited on the dock to examine any 
other bodies that might be brought in. Just as the Fidelity 
pulled out, Gustave saw an old man, shabbily dressed, weeping 



i82 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

over the body of his wife, which had just been identified. He 
heard the man say he had no money with which to pay for a 
funeral, and, going up to the man, handed him six dollars. 
Then the big German went away to continue his own search. 
The beautiful woman whose face wore such a peaceful 
smile as she lay in her coffin with her baby in her arms, and 
whose body attracted such attention and interest, was identi- 
fied as Mrs. Mary Bretz of 304 West Twenty-eighth street. 
The identification was made by her sister-in-law. 

THE SCENES VARIED LITTLE 

For five hours the tragedy of grief-crazed men and women 
bending over those drowned women and babies went on. 
The scenes varied little when identifications were made. 
Women and men, it was all the same — a frightened, fearful 
glance, a sudden change in the face, a scream that tore its 
way from the heart, and a storm of grief that shook the tor- 
tured mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters until they 
were led out by the police and taken to their homes. 

ONE OF THE SAVED 

Through it all, her big blue eyes looking straight ahead, 
her little face quite serene and untroubled, sat a baby girl of 
four in a big chair at the side of the room. She had come out 
of the burned boat somehow, nobody knew how, and her yel- 
low hair and bright red dress were as neat as a pin, with not 
even a drop of water to spoil its prettiness. Her eyes traveled 
all about the room, taking in the dreadful figures on the floor, 
some of them stretched at her feet. She watched the scream- 
ing women and the moaning men curiously, obviously puzzled 
as to what it was all about. She v.^asn't frightened at the 
dead, or shaken by the experiences she herself must have 



IDENTIFYING THE DEAD 183 

passed through. Hour by hour she sat in her big chair until 
a white-faced man burst into the room. Then she scrambled 
down. 

FOUND BY HER FATHER 

"Oh, papa!" cried the baby. "Where have you been, and 
where is mamma and brother and sister and baby?" 

The father, who was Charles Kregler of 257 Avenue B, 
caught up the child in an agony of love and held her close for 
minutes before he spoke. His wife and Lizzie, the yellow- 
haired little maiden, together with three other children, had 
been on the boat. Lizzie he had found, the only child alive in 
that place of dead children; but his wife and the other chil- 
dren were not there, living or dead. That alone convinced 
him they had perished. Otherwise they, too, would have been 
there. He went away sobbing, holding the child close to him, 
and the last thing seen of them vv^as a wealth of yellow hair, a 
red dress and a happy baby smile. 

SEEKERS WHO DID NOT FIND 

Hundreds passed through the room who searched for their 
dead but failed to find the face they feared to recognize. 
One man, Charles Schoeffiing of 189 Third avenue, was on the 
verge of insanity. He bent over the body of a large woman 
and screamed: 

'It is my wife! My God, it is my Mary!" 

The police tried to calm him, and he started along the row 
of corpses. Another dress that looked familiar caught his 
eye, and again he cried that it was his wife. Two policemen 
went with him arm in arm, appealing to him to be calm, to 
look close and to make no mistake. A third time he thought 
he recognized his wife and screamed, until, at last, the police 



i84 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

took him away, convinced that the man was mad temporarily 
from the frightful shock of the news. Before he went he told 
Coroner Berry that Mary Schoeffling, his wife, and Eddie and 
Elsie, his children ten and three years old, had been on board 
the burned steamer. 

THREE SISTERS LOST 

The Fidelity reached the morgue Wednesday night shortly 
before midnight, bringing five bodies. There was the body of 
a man, that of a boy child, and those of two women and a girl. 
The coffin containing the body of the girl had hardly touched 
the floor before a girl barely more than fourteen years of age 
made for it. 

"That's Annie," she said. "I've been waiting for her, and 
Clara is still to be found." 

The girl said that her name was Louise Hagenback. She 
lives at 102 First avenue. The body identified was that of 
Annie Scheele, fifteen years old, of 14 St. Mark's place. 

Annie Scheele, with her sisters Clara and Vina, went on 
the excursion with friends. Their father was at home sick, 
and their mother stayed behind to take care of him. 

IDENTIFIED BY AN ALUMINUM PLATE 

Another body, that of a ten-year-old schoolboy, was 
identified by an aluminum tag sewed on the lining of his coat. 
The bit of metal bore the words: "Frank Delucce goes to 
P. S." The boy lived at No. 54 East Seventh street. 

Eight bodies were recovered from a hollow in the river 
bed. The first was that of a well-dressed young woman 
wrapped in the stars and stripes. She wore a black silk dress, 
and around it, like a winding sheet, were the folds of a large 



IDENTIFYING THE DEAD 185 

silk American flag. It is supposed she became entangled in 
the flag when she fell overboard. 

MUCH JEWELRY FOUND 

Jewelry was found on nearly all the bodies of the women. 
On one was a wedding ring, bearing the initials "F. H. to 
A. T., January 28, 1891." On the body of a woman numbered 
524 a wedding ring was marked "A. J. to L. K. 51402." 
Another woman's wedding ring bore the letters "C. D. to 
M. R., 1Q02." On another body, that of a fourteen-year-old 
girl, was found a ruby ring in a cluster of pearls, an opal ring, 
two gold pins and a blue turquoise necklace. On the body of 
a wonian about twenty-four years old were a solitaire diamond 
ring and two diamond earrings. 



CHAPTER XV 

TESTIMONY OF THE SURVIVORS 

The Story of Clara Stuer — Awful Scenes Witnessed by Little Sallie 
Klein — His Dead Wife Smiled — Twenty Boys Form a Bucket Brigade — 
Annie Weber's Dreadful Narrative— The . Pathetic Tale of Henry 
Cordes— Freda Gardner, Eight Years Old, Relates Her Experiences — 
Saw Her Mother Fall Into the Burning Hold — The Statement of 
John Halphausen. 

Stories told by the survivors of the burning of the General 
Slocum gave a vivid picture of the terrible swiftness with 
which death swept the vessel, of the panic which raged over 
her decks, and of the sudden tragedy which took hundreds of 
the helpless. Many of those who were rescued had no very 
clear idea of how they escaped. A man dragged them into a 
boat or a swimmer brought them ashore. Further details 
veiy few of them could give. Two things they all agree upon: 
the tragedy fell with awful swiftness, and the panic aboard the 
steamer instantaneously swept away every semblance of 
calmness. 

STATEMENT FROM A CLERGYMAN 

The Rev. Julius G. Schulz of Erie was a passenger on the 
General Slocum, and witnessed the frightful scenes that fol- 
lowed the burning of that craft. Mr. Schulz was of the opin- 
ion that Captain Van Schaick used bad judgment in running 
the Slocum up stream instead of beaching her on the Sunken 
Meadows. 

i86 



TESTIMONY OF THE SURVIVORS 187 

TRIED TO PRAY 

Freda Gardner, eight years old, was rescued after being in 
the water fifteen minutes. She was picked up by a man in a 
rowboat. She says that the first thing she knew of any 
trouble was when everybody started shouting and running to 
the stern of the boat. She was knocked down, but managed 
to get to her feet again. 

A big man stopped and put a life preserver about her. He 
was praying all the time, and hurried on to help another child. 
She fell again, and, as she was getting up, somebody, she 
thinks it was a woman, tore off the life preserver. The smoke 
was stifling and it was terribly hot. She managed at last to 
get to the outer rail, but was afraid to jump. 

"A man picked me up and threw me into the water," she 
said. "I saw him a second later swimming toward me, and it 
gave me courage. Then he disappeared. A plank came 
floating by, and I grasped it. It easily supported me. Some- 
body caught hold of my foot, but let go. All the time I was 
trying to pray, but could not, because I had gone on the excur- 
sion without the knowledge of my mother. 

"A man grabbed the plank and was pulling himself up on 
it, when a woman threw her arms about his neck, and the two 
slipped back into the water. I managed to say a prayer then 
and felt better, and I then resolved never again to disobey my 
mother. I started to pray again, when a man in a rowboat 
reached out and pulled me in." 

There was the greatest surprise on the part of the mother 
when her little daughter, wrapped in a great blanket, was 
carried into the house with her clothing, still wet, in her arms. 
There was no scolding for the truant arirl. 



188 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

A THRILLING STORY 

The story of Clara Stuer, one of the survivors, who suc- 
ceeded in reaching the home of friends on Seventh street, 
abounds in thrilling interest. 

"I was sitting on the upper deck with some friends," she 
said. "They were Miss Millie Mannheimer, Miss Lillie Mann- 
heimer, her niece, and Walter, the latter's brother, aged 
eleven. We had just passed the entrance to the Marleni 
River, and were going slowl}^ when Lillie, who was looking 
forward, called to her aunt, saying, 'I think the boat is on fire, 
auntie. See all the smoke.' 'Hush,' replied her aunt, 'you 
must not talk so; you may create a panic' 

"Lillie would not be silenced, however, and it seemed but 
a few moments later that there was a roar as though a cannon 
had been shot off, and the entire bow of the boat was one 
sheet of flames. The people rushed pell-mell over one 
another, and in the rush I lost track of my friends. Hundreds 
of people jumped overboard, being so caught by the flames 
that escape was impossible. 

"I jumped over the rail, and dropped down to the next 
lower deck, when I began to dispense with my clothing, so 
that I would have a better chance in the water. Then I 
started to climb down the side of the boat, Vv^hen I heard a 
voice calling to me to hold on a minute. 

"I turned and saw a man standing on the bow of a tug 
which was approaching. I held on, and was soon taken off 
with a number of other persons who had been rescued from 
the boat and from the water. 

SAW THE PASTOR REVIVED 

"As I left the dock I saw, it looked to me, two hundred 
bodies, mostly of women and children, along the shore, lying 



TESTIMONY OF THE SURVIVORS 189 

on the ground. Physicians were working over many of them. 
In the center of one group I saw the pastor, the Rev. Mr. 
Haas. Several doctors were doing their best to revive him, 
and as I stood there he opened his eyes and looked about. 
His first words were, 'Where are they? Where is my family? 
Are they saved? Are they dead or alive?' " 
DRAGGED UNDER WATER 

Bernard Miller called at police headquarters and went to 
the bureau of information, looking for his wife and four chil- 
dren. He and his family were all passengers on the General 
Slocum and all jumped overboard. 

"Myself, my wife, and four sons, whose ages are three, six, 
nine, and twelve respectively, were sitting on the first deck," 
he said, "when I saw smoke coming up through the deck in 
great clouds. The people in the boat acted as though they 
had lost their minds. I grabbed life preservers, and, after put- 
ting them on my wife and children, assisted them over the 
side of the boat into the water. 

"Then I put one on and went after them, telling them to 
make for the shore. The youngest child was in my wife's 
arms and she and the three elder started for Randall's Island. 
I started after, them, but had not taken more than half a dozen 
strokes when I was surrounded by half a dozen women, who 
clung to me and dragged mie under. I had all I could do to 
save myself from being drowned by their frantic efforts to 
hold on to me, when a rowboat came up and took us all on 
board. When we got there I searched for my family in vain. 
They were not to be found." 

LIFEBOATS TIED WITH WIRE 

Nicholas Belzer, an employee of the dock department, went 
down to the pier at the foot of Third street, looking for his 



190 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

wife and child, who had become separated from him in the 
mad rush at the time of the disaster. 

"I lost track of my wife some time before the fire," he said, 
"and was sitting on the upper deck when I discovered that the 
ship was on fire. I drew my penknife and tried to cut away 
one of the lifeboats, and succeeded in severing the ropes, but 
when I got this far I discovered that they were also held with 
wire and were immovable. Seeing that I could do nothing, I 
climbed over the edge and down to the lower deck, and from 
there down to the lowest. I then jumped into the river and 
swam ashore." 

A SCENE OF HORROR 

Henry Cordes, who called at the morgue looking for his 
mother and brothers and sisters, said that all was orderly on 
the steamer until some one cried fire, and with one accord 
every one made for the upper decks. Those who were on the 
main deck also rushed up the steps to the hurricane deck, 
until it was crowded to suffocation. The people still kept 
crowding until there was a crash, the railing gave way, and 
many were pushed over the edge into the water. He added: 

"As the fire increased and ate away the s'ipports of the 
deck, the weight became too great, and there 'w^as an awful 
crash as it caved in, carrying many into the flames. The crew 
did all they could stretching hose and lowering boats, but the 
boats on the starboard side could not be used owing to the 
flames, while the rest would not nearly suffice for the hundreds 
who were to be saved. 

"The scene when the deck fell in was one of indescribable 
horror. The flames, roared and licked at the people, who, in 
their desperation, leaped overboard to escape a worse death, 
while those who were too late went down into the hell belov/," 



TESTIMONY OF THE SURVIVORS 191 

CALLS CREW UNDISCIPLINED 

John Halphusen, sexton of the church, said: 
"The crew appeared to me to be undiscipHned and unfa- 
miliar with the working of the liferafts and lifeboats. I was 
standing beside the pastor nearly all the time. He did every- 
thing in his power to save the people. I placed my two 
daughters, Mina, aged twelve, and Clara, aged ten, on the top 
of the paddlebox and kept them there until a tugboat by the 
name of Sumner picked all of us up." 

LOOKED FOR HER FAMILY 

The great sense of childish grief over the failure to 
find her brother, John Klein, and other relatives, saddened 
little Sallie Klein to such an extent that, child as she was, she 
seemed to be weighted with the gloom of her bereavement. 

"I was eating lunch when the fire started," she said. "On 
the deck where I was sitting with my basket some children 
came running and I heard shouts. 

"Then somebody said 'Fire!' 

"I dropped my basket and looked around for the family. 
There were fifteen of us. I was left by myself. The flames 
came up, and a big black smoke, too. I don't think I was 
afraid. I don't know. I just know that I ran away from the 
fire, and when I got to the edge of the boat I heard everybody 
screaming and crying, and I jumped into the water. 

"A man and woman were in the water where I jumped. I 
caught hold of the man's hair. He went under the water, and 
then I caught the woman by the foot. She went down, too. 
When I saw nobody near me to help me I started to paddle 
out myself. 



^gf^g*^ 9HSR1 ^dST -^WJt 



Zl/'THl If/C^ 



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J- >t 



•2tKi -n ' '^i£Z vt? 



^';- -"^* tJr .^m yTA^: f^^-^'y f^i >? 



TZ-fn^'fO^nf C'F THE SLTRVrX^OiSS IE2 

lite preservers was so tfrTtHc obe tJue ' Qur'T^irp - tfer.r ssiiDe q£ ts 

were neaHv ciwDked Iw tite seizE..'' 

S!3 TmATl WITS *;■ . ..as 

Walter Peters a£ 50 Aveinie A W25 ^esxaniioig: sil «i^ fiar 
Bdes baby damgkrer T.iFTa:m, sevesncesni MiQ-inntfes- qM. Hb- -wife's 
bcxiy Isy at iwDnnme^ 

"I knrow T ■,r[T;;!.n ditdi-Lt cSe' ^t iiiTn: miry wife^'^ iiie ^Eai. ""IMEjr w5fe 
was drowii'ei., bat ske looks f -f .. - ~ ^ i ifeere's a smmlie qbl 
ber face- Siie'd nierer ksive. .•-■.■ " —^ if ^■''^ ~" 'Tt 

kiiiowTi diat tke baby was safe. 2 . _- ^ l _ _ _ ._jl was . tf- 

waxtl. biCEt wTiiCTi BDiy wife ^ei^ t&e' bsiBjy was safe, ctsit ^ce* 
t pTTs ncLie tliat-'^ 

XiS^JSEBBe SEA OP BinMMg JBWiHBfc 
Mrsw Atnmae Web«er^ brannteti s© tfeax baaidag'es kid kslf iter 
f2.ce aji<d covered maosz of h-^r '; " .■'-"': "a 

moirb-er's yesxntiiig for k»er ~-^ " ,.:-_. ^ ----j ^ 

trite E'erv trap in wkicik ske. -.- - ■ : " were^ (rrs'frg tmr obl tSoe 

Gpeneral SLocirai. Mor kinsbaaiiiGi,, ^FiraiiDfc WdbiHr,, wiine^ feiD^ct 
a;^aiiis!t tke ^ajnDSs tryincg' t0> ffinuGl Bms; Ifitiidls cmsss,. 'n nnntiii! t&^r 
biomed bis clottbes froBimi fers body. toM of Bms fantiie e^octs to 
wrencb. f- ; ' • ^ - - . - - " - " '^r 

the safer - ._■ ._^ ^ _i^. _...- ^ ^^ ig- 

sea. of str\ __ ^ 



**Tb)ere iDever was 2. kippoer party ':^h.^.-^ we wene wknei we 
boarded tbe beat Wedmesday iniDOoiMng:7 ^ue said. ""We are 
ni«em.bers of Sc Mark's Ck'ncnrk amd kad locked ferward to 
tkis oim rr'ng . Xke c." ' i. wkiejiL I was pre~ 

pariiag tke bimck tk'c ._ ^ - - , ■ : - _- - ■■ ; scarte^i eor^v. Mr 



194 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

husband and myself, and my children, Emma, ten years old, 
and Frank, seven, and my sister Martha Liebenow met my 
brother Paul Liebenow and his wife, with their six-months- 
old baby in her arms, and Helen, six years old, and a baby girl 
three years old at the dock. We had invited them to go with 
us to the excursion, and we went on board laughing and 
talking, the children romping ahead with my sister. 

"We went to the middle deck, near the forward part of the 
boat. The sun was shining and the boat glided through the 
water so smoothly that the children could play around with- 
out any danger, and were told to remain within call. The 
four little ones, my two and my sister-in-law's older children, 
romped back toward the stern of the boat with my sister. 

"We were sitting in a circle talking when a puff of black 
smoke came up the stairway leading to the deck below. It 
was a big puff of smoke and startled every one. 

FLAMES' QUICK SPREAD 

" 'Don't mind that, it is the chowder cooking,' some one 
said, and then we laughed at our fears, but the laughter 
changed to a cry of horror when a sheet of flame followed the 
smoke. 

"I cried for my children, and my sister-in-law, with her 
baby, ran back to search for her two little ones. The flames 
kept sweeping up in puffs, each one growing higher and 
spreading. My husband and my brother had gone to look for 
the children. 

"Then we were all separated. I rushed here and there, 
looking for my children and saying to myself that my husband 
had found them. The flames were sweeping back as the boat 
raced on, and it was like the breath of a red-hot furnace. 



TESTIMONY OF THE SURVIVORS 195 

" 'Get life preservers!' said a man, and we stood up on 
camp stools and on the benches and reached for the life preserv- 
ers. Some of them v^e could not budge, and the others pulled 
to pieces and spilled the crumbs of corks over our heads. The 
heat was blistering and the flames swept along the roof of the 
deck and scorched our fingers as we tried to snatch down the 
life preservers. The flames drove those who were standing 
around me back and over to the side of the boat. 

"Nobody could live in such heat as that. My face was 
scorching and my hair caught fire. I went to the side of the 
boat and swung myself over the side by a rope. Every time 
my hands, face or body would come in contact with the sides 
of the vessel it would blister my flesh. 

"DROP OR BURN TO DEATH" 

" 'Drop or burn to death!' some one cried to me. I don't 
know whether I dropped or whether I was pushed off. I 
found myself struggling against the water, and it was hot. 
There were others struggling in the water all around me, and 
they were pulling each other down. I cried for help and 
heard a man, who was in the water, tell me to come nearer, 
that the water was too hot where I was for him to swim in to 
me. I think I must have caught a rope. I was pulled in 
shore on North Brother Island and then went back into the 
water to look for my children. 

"Before I let go of the rope the vessel was one mass of 
flames. I knew that the children couldn't live there and 
thought I might keep them from drowning. I found my hus- 
band, with his clothes burned off, looking for the children, and 
then they took us both to the hospital. 

"At the hospital I found my brother and his wife. Some 



196 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

one restored to them their six-months-old baby, which had 
been pulled from the water. My two little children and her 
two little girls are missing. I pray God that they have all 
been saved." 

"When I ran back to look for my children," said Mr. 
Weber, "the flames seemed to follow me. I could not find 
them. It was useless in a moment to look, for the flames 
were all over the boat, and no one could live. 

BOATS FASTENED WITH WIRE 

"With other men I tried to lower away a lifeboat. We 
could manage the ropes, but found that the boat was fastened 
on by wire and could not be lowered. The life preservers 
were as useless as a handful of sawdust, into which they 
seemed to crumble at the touch. 

"I jumped to the deck below. There was a man there with 
a hose, which seemed to be split and broken, and I heard him 
shout: 

" 'Where's the water? Where's the water?' Then he 
dropped the hose and jumped for his life. 

"The deck-hands and crew of the boat were absolutely of 
no aid in saving lives. No one was even warned of the fire. 

"I remained on the boat until my clothing was aflame and 
then jumped into the vv^ater. It was boiling hot near the boat. 
I swam around looking for m^^ children and then made for the 
shore." 



CHAPTER XVI 

EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY 

President Roosevelt's Message — England Horrified — Offers of Aid from 
American Cities — President Loubet Cables His Sympathy — Mayor Har- 
rison Sends a Telegram of Condolence to the New York Executive — 
Generous Contributions from Wealthy Sympathizers — Letters from 
Clergymen — Cablegrams from European Monarchs. 

From foreign countries and American cities came hundreds 
of official and private messages of sympathy to Mayor McClel- 
lan. President Roosevelt was prompt in tendering condolence 
and aid; but one of the earliest and most appropriate expres- 
sions of sorrow and sympathy was the following message from 
Sir Thomas Lipton: 

FROM SIR THOMAS LIPTON 

Am greatly shocked at terrible disaster which has over- 
taken your city. The suffering and bereaved have my heart- 
felt sympathy, and if any pecuniary help is needed would like 
to contribute $i,ooo. 

MAYOR M'CLELLAN'S RESPONSE 

I thank you in the name of New York for your message of 
sympathy. While the generous contributions of our citizens 
will amply provide for the afflicted, we are most grateful for 
your kind tender of aid. 

FROM THE CHIEF MAGISTRATE OF GLASGOW 

The corporation of Glasgow, in council assembled to-day, 

unanimously passed a resolution expressive of their sincere 

197 



198 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

sympathy with those bereaved or injured by the lamentable 
disaster at New York yesterday. 

Bailie Sorley, Acting Chief Magistrate. 

PHILADELPHIA MAYOR'S OFFER 

Philadelphia is horrified by the news of the fearful accident 
to the Sunday school children on the General Slocum. Our 
most sincere sympathy is extended to the parents and friends 
and we are most anxious to do something to help you in this 
great affliction. Will you let me know if there is anything we 
can do to help? 

John Weaver, Mayor of Philadelphia. 

FROM MAYOR HARRISON OF CHICAGO 

Chicago sends to New York her heartfelt and keenest sym- 
pathy on account of the terrible calamity which has just hap- 
pened. Our own recent catastrophe makes us mournfully 
appreciative of the sorrow in which your city has just been 
plunged. Please command us if we may be of any assistance 
whatever. Carter H. Harrison, Mayor. 

SYMPATHETIC WORDS FROM INDIANAPOLIS 

The people of Indianapolis sympathize most keenly with 
you and your people who suffered on account of the appalling 
disaster on East River. 

John W. Holtzman, Mayor of Indianapolis. 

FROM THE POLISH ALLIANCE 

Please express our deepest sympathy to all who lost their 
dear ones in the awful disaster. 

Polish National Alliance. 



EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY igg 

AFRICAN METHODIST BISHOPS UNITE 

In behalf of the Bishops' Council of the African Methodist 
Episcopal Church, in session, we unite in the universal mourning 
which the nation is calling forth on account of the lamentable 
disaster which has suddenly befallen the city of New York, of 
which you are the honored head, in the loss of hundreds of 
human lives in the General Slocum disaster. 

W. B. Derrick. 
B. W. Arnett. 

FROM A SISTER REPUBLIC 

The students of the School of Engineers of Mexico send 
sympathy for the misfortune befallen the school children on 
board the General Slocum. 

Cablegrams were exchanged between President Loubet of 
France and President Roosevelt. 

PRESIDENT LOUBET'S DISPATCH 

Profoundly moved by the awful catastrophe of the General 
Slocum, I have it at heart to address to your Excellency my 
sincere condolences and to send to the families of the victims 
the expression of my sorrowful sympathy. 

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S REPLY 

I profoundly appreciate the friendship and sympathy which 
prompted your Excellency's telegram of condolence, and I 
beg you to accept in behalf of the afflicted families and the 
people of the United States my sincere thanks. 

FROM ARCHBISHOP FARLEY 

Archbishop John M. Farley, of the Diocese of New York, 
sent the following letter to Dr. Haas: 

Rev. and Dear Sir: I beg to tender you and your afiflicted 



200 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

people my most sincere sympathy in the presence of the 
appalHng calamity that has fallen upon them and you through 
the burning of the General Slocum; and I know my feelings 
are fully shared by the whole body of the Catholic clergy and 
laity of New York. 

May the Giver of all strength comfort you and yours in this 
their dreadful hour of sorrow. Believe me, my dear sir, 
Very respectfully yours, 

John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York. 

FROM THE GERMAN EMPEROR 

Rev. George C. F. Haas received the following telegram 
from Baron Speck von Sternburg, the German Ambassador at 
Washington, enclosing the following cable message from the 
German Emperor: 

Rev. George Haas, Sixth street, New York: The follow- 
ing cablegram has just been communicated to me by His 
Majesty, the Kaiser: 

Being most profoundly affected by the news of the inde- 
scribably horrible catastrophe which has overtaken the 
Lutheran congregation, I command you to express to it my 
innermost feelings of sorrow. 

In carrying out the command of my most gracious sover- 
eign, allow me at the same time to offer you my own personal 
sympathy. STERNr.URG. 

FROM THE GERMAN EMPRESS 

Supplementing the Emperor's condolences, came a tele- 
gram from the Empress of Germany, which was transmitted 
to the Rev. Mr. Haas by the Ambassador, and of which a 
translation follows: 

Her Majesty the Empress and Queen has authorized me to 



EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY 201 

express her heartiest sympathy for the unspeakable disaster 
that has brought such great grief into hundreds of German 
famiHes. I beg Your Reverence to bring this to the notice of 
those afflicted. 

MAYOR M'CLELLAN'S ANNOUNCEMENT 

Mayor McClellan issued the following on Thursday, the 
day after the catastrophe: 

PROCLAMATION 

To the Citizens of New York: The appalling disaster 
yesterday, by which more than five hundred men, women and 
children lost their lives by fire and drowning, has shocked and 
horrified our city. Knowing the keen sympathy of the people 
of the City of New York with their stricken fellows, I have 
appointed a committee of citizens to receive contributions to a 
fund to provide for the fit and proper burial of the dead, and 
for such other relief as may be necessary. 

The following gentlemen have been asked to serve on the 
committee: Morris K. Jesup, Jacob H. Schiff, Herman Rid- 
der, Charles A. Dickey, Robert A. Van Courtlandt, Erskine 
Hewitt, Joseph C. Hendrix, Thomas Mulry, George Ehret, 
John Fox, John Weinacht, and H. B. Scharman. 

Until the committee has had an opportunity to organize I 
shall be glad to receive contributions at the Mayor's office. 

As a sign of mourning I have ordered the flags on the City 
Hall to be put at half-mast. 

George B. McClellan, Mayor. 

FLAGS AT HALF-MAST 

The flags of the City Hall and all buildings where city 
departments are situated were placed at half-mast as soon as 
the Mayor's order became known. 



202 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

The Mayor said: 

"I hope all the gentlemen named in the proclamation will 
accept. When I hear from them I will call a meeting for pur- 
poses of organization, after which the committee will under- 
take relief work and the collection of funds. 

'I cannot estimate the amount of money needed to be 
raised, but it will certainly be a large sum, because there are 
so many families who are perhaps not well able to meet the 
cost of the funerals. 

"A large number of orphans also will have to be cared for. 
In many cases the head of the family has been lost. Provision 
ought to be made for these families. 

"For the immediate necessities I have given to the heads 
of all departments carte blanche in expenditures, stating that 
any bills they contract in carrying out their work will be met 
by the Board of Estimate. 

"I have directed Health Commissioner Darlington to bury 
in Lutheran Cemetery in Long Island City all bodies which 
cannot be identified. 

"I have nothing but praise for the work of the city 
employes, who have been busy practically twenty-four hours. 
I have directed departmental heads to employ laborers to take 
the place of regular city employes who become exhausted." 

MAYOR'S MESSAGE TO PASTOR 

Mayor McClellan sent the following message to the Rev. 
George C. F. Haas, pastor of the stricken congregation: 

On behalf of the people of our city, and myself, I express 
to you and your stricken flock the sentiments of sorrow which 
pervade this community at the awful calamity which has come 
upon you. 



EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY 203 

In the hope that we may lessen in some degree the anguish 
which you and your people suffer, I have appealed to the 
generosity of our fellow citizens to render financial aid to those 
who may need it to care for their sick and to decently bury 
their dead. 

We all hope that courage may be given you to bear up 
under your great af^iction. 

PRODUCE EXCHANGE RESOLUTIONS 

At a meeting of the board of managers of the Produce 
Exchange the following resolutions were unanimously 
adopted: 

Whereas, in the burning of the excursion steamer Genera] 
Slocum,and the fearful and sad loss of life occasioned thereby, 
our city has been visited with a calamity unprecedented in its 
awful character, and. 

Whereas, in the terrific death suffered by so many, espe- 
cially by helpless children, bereavement with its consequent 
sorrow has entered so many homes, bowing everywhere hearts 
with grief, and awakening the deepest sympathy, be it 

Resolved, that the New York Produce Exchange, through 
its board of managers, tenders to the Rev. G. C. F. Haas, and 
through him to his church and to all bereaved families, this 
expression of its deep sorrow, and its tender and heartfelt 
sympathy with one and all the suffering ones in this hour of 
grief. 

CATHOLIC CLUB WILL AID 

At the meeting of the Catholic Club of New York, Thomas 
C. O'Sullivan introduced the following resolutions, which were 
adopted unanimously: 

The Catholic Club, mindful that the issues of life and death 



204 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

rest in the power of an All Wise Providence, but yielding to 
natural grief caused by the appalling disaster which has 
wrapped the city in profound gloom, records this minute of its 
sympathy for the afflicted congregation of St. Mark's German 
Lutheran Church in the deplorable loss of life happening on 
their excursion yesterday. The Catholic Club desires that its 
president, Justice Giegerich, express to the Rev. George C. F. 
Haas, pastor of the St. Mark's German Lutheran Church, its 
deep and prayerful sympathy for his people, in this, their hour 
of trial, and its willingness to cooperate with him in any plan 
of financial aid. 

FROM THE LONDON SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION 

The following cablegram was received from London: 
Sunday School Union, representing two and a half million 
workers, scholars, Great Britain and colonies, assures church 
and relatives of profound sympathy at the time of this appal- 
ling disaster. Heartfelt prayers. Father may vouchsafe 
comfort and sustaining grace. 

Belsey, Chairman. 

FROM THE SALVATION ARMY 

Col. Charles Miles, of the Salvation Army of New York 
City, sent the following message: 

Salvation Army sends to you and your people profound 
sympathy. We are praying. If we can serve you command 
us. We are holding memorial services in all corps Sunday. 



CHAPTER XVII 

SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS 

A Happy Party of Children — A Freight of Youthful Happiness — The Little 
Tots Flock Together — No Hint of Danger — Eating Ice Cream When 
the Fire Started — Looking Forward to a Day on Long Island — Tiny 
Toddlers Lost from Their Mothers — Baby Heroes and Heroines — 
Mothers Crazed With Panic— Empty Benches in Schools. 

An eye-witness who saw the army of joyful children march- 
ing to the boat said it was one of the gayest that ever started 
from New York. The day was as perfect as is ever known in 
this section, and this of itself had caused the boat to be 
crowded, not only with members of the church, but with out- 
siders who took this opportunity of spending a delightful day 
in the country, and far from the noisy turmoil of New York. 

CKOWDED WITH CHILDREN 

As the Slocum swung into the stream and headed north- 
ward, it was saluted by all passing craft. Forward the band 
was playing lively, summery airs, and from every part of the 
boat floated flags and streamers. 

The great excursion steamer carried a freight of human 
happiness. Everywhere the little ones crowded, gazing over 
the side at the rushing water that swept past the swift steamer 
or at the fleet of river craft that passed the Slocum in only 
one direction, for the great paddle wheels sent her at a rate 
that made it impossible for any to pass her. 

Later, this very fact added hundreds to the death list of 

205 



2o6 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

the Slocum, for the boats that followed the burning steamer in 
the hope of rescuing those in danger found it impossible to 
overtake her. Within half an hour the crowd on the boat 
had coagulated into little groups. 

Neighbors, friends, relatives formed little parties and 
gathered together in corners or in sections of the boat, the 
children flocking about by themselves and straying far from 
their parents or guardians of the day. There was no hint of 
danger, and they were permitted to go where they pleased 
without restraint. 

Around the band were gathered hundreds of the little ones, 
and even on the upper decks they were huddled together in 
little flocks. 

HAPPINESS EVERYWHERE 

In a short time long tables were set out on the cool, shady 
afterdeck, and a rush carried hundreds of the children in 
laughing groups to where the dainty, tasteful mounds of ice 
cream and long glasses of ice-cold sodawater and lemonade 
were being handed out to the little ones. Around these tables 
the children were gathered in a laughing, scrambling, good- 
natured swarm, when the first note of warning came from the 
deck below. 

On the main deck had gathered the few men in the party. 
They had been smoking and talking as they watched the shore 
lines glide by on either side, and it was feared that a lighted 
cigar tossed carelessly aside may have been responsible for 
the fearful disaster. 

EMPTY BENCHES IN SCHOOLS 

No more startling evidence of the slaughter of the inno- 
cents which accompanied the General Slocum disaster could 



SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS 207 

be found than in the rows of empty benches in the schools, 
which the children who went down on the calamitous excur- 
sion attended, and which are located in the neighborhood of 
Pastor Haas's church. 

Of these the most seriously affected was Public School 25, 
on Fifth street near First avenue, over which a pall of mourn- 
ing hung for many days. The majority of the two thousand 
pupils are related to the dead or missing parishioners, and 
many of the scholars were lost on the vessel. In the class- 
rooms Thursday morning there were whole rows of empty 
desks and little of the work of the curriculum was carried out. 

The children who attended came into the class-rooms, their 
eyes red from weeping, and little knots of scholars stood 
about discussing the probable fate of their companions. The 
little girls were most affected when they heard that one of 
their friends had met death, and the boys, trying to be brave, 
often burst into uncontrollable fits of weeping. 

No. 25 is, however, not the only school that has felt the 
hand of swift death. Superintendent Maxwell received the 
following reports from six of the thirteen schools in the 
vicinity of the stricken church, showing the list of missing. 

DEAD, INJURED AND MISSING SCHOOL CHILDREN 

No. 25, 326 Fifth street: — Boys' department, 17 dead, 33 
missing, 10 injured. Girls' department, 34 dead, 35 missing, 6 
injured. 

No. 79, 38 First street: — i dead, 2 missing, 5 injured. 

No. 131, 273 Second street: — i dead, i missing. 

No. 15, 728 Fifth street: — i dead, i missing. 

No. 105, 269 East Fourth street: — 2 dead, 2 injured. 

No. 126, 536 East Twelfth street: — 2 missing. 



2o8 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

No. 36, 710 East Ninth street: — 5 missing. 

No. 71, 188 Seventh street: — 14 missing. 

No. 104, 413 East Sixteenth street: — 5 missing or dead. 

No. 50, 211 East Twentieth street: — 13 missing or dead. 

No. jTyy 209 East Forty-sixth street: — i dead or missing. 

No. 19, 344 East Fourteenth street: — Grammar department, 
18 missing; primary department, 5 missing. 

No. 122, Ninth street and First avenue: — 21 dead 

No. 129, 433 East Nineteenth street: — 19 missing or dead. 

Superintendent Maxwell and President Rogers of the 
Board of Education sent out the following circular to the 
principals of schools on Thursday: 

"By an appalling calamity some hundreds of public school 
children and their friends and relatives were overtaken by 
sudden death yesterday in the East River, and many others 
were grievously wounded. The households stricken by this 
disaster will have the heartfelt sympathy of all public school 
children and teachers. As an expression of our sympathy, 
flags will be displayed at half-mast on all public school build- 
ings throughout the city from 8 o'clock a. m. to 3:30 o'clock 
p. m. Friday, June 17. 

"Principals and teachers will take the opportunity to 
admonish their pupils to remain cool and collected in the 
presence of sudden danger, which is always imminent in a 
great city; not to risk their lives unnecessarily; to learn to 
swim; and always to be ready to lend a helping hand to those 
weaker than themselves. 

"The records of this disaster furnish abundant illustration 
of heroism, the effect of which should not be lost upon our 
children." 




FIVE DEAD IN ONE HOME 

This picture represents the crape-hung door of a home, made desolate by the 
burning of the General Slocum. With the exception of the father, August Dippert, 
who bade his wife good-bye on the morning of the disaster, the entire family was 
wiped out— mother, wife and three children losing their lives. 




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REV. GEORGE C. F. HAAS 

PASTOR OF ST. M.\KK"S GKRMAN LUTHERAS CHURCH 



SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS 209 

"NUMBER 144" 

A baby boy was washed ashore by the tide. His clothes 
were drenched, but they were not torn. And around his neck 
he still wore the sky-blue ribbon marked in black letters "St. 
Marcus's Sonntag Schule," which proclaimed him one of the 
few survivors of the last Slaughter of Innocents. 

In Superintendent Daub's arms he was hurried to Lebanon 
Hospital, where Nurse McCallum, in charge of the childrens' 
ward, undressed him and put him in a little white-enameled 
bed and marked him 144. 

One hundred and forty-four he remained until a bent, gray- 
haired old lady tottered into the ward in charge of Nurse 
McCallum, took one look at him as he lay asleep and gathered 
him in her arms. 

She was Mrs. Augusta Debit of No. 328 Sixth street and 
the baby was her grandson Charles Debit, ten months old. 

She was the last of more than two hundred distracted men 
and women who since Wednesday afternoon visited the chil- 
dren's ward in their hunt for "little blond babies." 

LOOKING FOR A BLOND BABY 

"They all seemed to be looking for blond babies," said the 
nurse. Miss McCallum. "When they were told in the office 
that we had one baby here answering to that description their 
faces would brighten and they could hardly wait for me to 
bring them upstairs. But when they had looked at No. 144 
they would shake their heads, and the mothers, and sometimes 
the fathers, too, would break down and sob. 

"I am not a sensitive woman. I have watched the most 
cruel surgical operations without flinching — even the sight of 
the maimed and charred adult victims of the wreck did not 



210 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

destroy my nerve. But when I saw that little baby look up 

into the faces of the strange women who bent over his crib, 

and lift up his little arms and coo at them, and then saw the 

mothers shake their heads and turn away sobbing, I cried — I 

couldn't help it. 

SORRY TO PART WITH BABY 

"He was such a sweet little baby that I was really very 
sorry to part with him. I almost wished he would never be 
claimed. He did not cry at all when he was picked up, but 
after he was brought here he clamored for food. He was very 
hungry. I tried to give him milk out of a cup, but he was too 
young for that, and wouldn't take it. But when I fixed some 
in a bottle for him he was happy. I couldn't get the bottle 
away from him. Why, he drank sixteen ounces of milk before 
he would give it up. 

"After that he never cried once all the time he was here. 
He would lie in his cot smiling, or else coo at the nurses to 
make them take him up and walk with him. 

KEEPS RIBBON AS SOUVENIR 

"We were all sorry to part with him, but I have a souvenir 
of him that I am going to keep always— the little blue Sunday 
school ribbon he wore around his neck when he was washed 
ashore." 

DEATH DUE TO A LIFE PRESERVER 

John Kircher visited the morgue and identified the body of 
his seven-year-old daughter Elsie. Mr. Kircher directly 
charged that her death was due to a life preserver, which 
served as a death-trap instead of a safeguard. He made the 
following statement: 

"My wife and our three children, Elsie the youngest, and 
two others, went on the excursion. My wife is a fine swim- 



SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS 211 

mer, and is perfectly at home in the water. When the fire 
broke out and the panic started, she gathered the children 
together and thought out the best thing to do. She decided 
to put a life preserver on Elsie, as she could not swim, 
although the other two could a little. 

"Thinking that the little girl would be perfectly safe with 
the preserver on, she lifted her to the rail and dropped her 
over the side. She waited for Elsie to come up. But the 
child never appeared. She had sunk as though a stone were 
tied to her. Then my wife and the other two children jumped 
in, and mostly by her efforts all three got safely ashore. The 
only one lost was the one who wore a life preserver." 

TATE OF LITTLE JENNIE 

Coming down the steps of the Little Missionary Day 
Nursery, in St. Mark's Place, one German woman met another 
who was just going in. 

"They've found little Jennie's body," said the first woman. 
"They've brought her home; Miss Curry's been laying her out. 
I'm going over to see her. Will you come?" 

The two women passed up Avenue A to a tenement house 
just below Thirteenth street, and through a dark hallway lead- 
ing to an inner court, and there, in a small room filled with 
women sitting silently around the bier, was Jennie — happily 
not disfigured; her face was as dimpled and round and her 
brown curls as neatly arranged as when she led in the doll 
drill at the last festival given by the nursery. Her mother, a 
working woman, a widow with no other child but Tennie, sat 
beside her absolutely stonelike in her grief. 

"They say she cannot cry," one of the women whispered to 
the other as they went out, "but I guess maybe when Jennie's 



212 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCLJRSION BOAT HORROR 

taken away and she begins to pick up her little things, then 

she cries." 

A BORN MOTHER 

Everybod}^ who knew anything of the Little Missionary 
Day Nursery knew Jennie Eisler. "She was a baby when her 
mother first brought her to us," said Miss Curry, the manager, 
and when she was little more than a baby she took care of 
the other babies. She was a born 'little mother.' When she 
was a tiny thing of four or five, just promoted to the kinder- 
garten, if she chanced to hear a baby crying in the nursery 
behind the kindergarten room — left alone in its cradle, per- 
haps, for a minute — first thing the teacher knew Jennie had 
slipped out from the circle, and she would find her standing on 
tiptoe by the baby's side, hushing it in her motherly little way." 

On Wednesday morning Jennie's mother, who had to work 
and so could not go upon the excursion, put her in charge of a 
young girl, a neighbor, who promised to take care of her. It 
is said the girl lost her life trymg to save the child. All 
Wednesday night and Thursday Miss Curry and Jennie's 
mother searched for the two who had not come home, and on 
Thursday, at midnight, they found them in the morgue 
PARENTS AND CHILDREN DIED TOGETHER 

"Were any of your babies left motherless by the tragedyi^" 
Miss Curry was asked. 

"None of our babies. Indeed, in most cases the mothers 
who went took their young babies with them, and they died 
together. But many older children are orphaned. The sad- 
dest case I know was that of the Burkharts. They are not 
our nursery children; I happened on them while looking for 
some one else. The father of this family has been bedridden 
with rheumatism, and his wife supported him and the six chil- 



SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS 213 

dren Some one gave her tickets for the excursion, and the 
husband told her to go and take the baby and the oldest little 
boy and the other children could stay with him. The boy was 
saved; mother and baby were lost. When 1 went into their 
room on Friday morning-a wretched little room-the man 
had dragged himself out of bed and sat there, head down; I 
could hardly get him to speak. The five children were hud- 
dled around him, looking scared and hungry. While I was 

talking I happened to mention a remedy I thought would help 

the man's rheumatism. 

" 'You'll only need five cents' worth,' I said. 

" T haf not five cents,' he answered, and it was true; he had 

not a penny in the world. Thank God, I could leave some 

food, and I gave their names to the relief committee." 

"But these relief committees," said a woman who stood 

near, shaking her head, "they have so much red tape." 

LEFT ALONE IN THE WORLD 

On Friday morning, as Miss Curry was preparing the 
bodies of a mother and her baby for burial in a tenement on 
Sixth street, she heard a boy come running Into the rooms on 
the floor below. "Mamma," he cried, "mamma, are you 
home>" This boy had boarded the General Slocum on 
Wednesday with his mother and sisters-the entire family. 
When the panic came he was somehow separated from them 
all He saw a little child that was separated from its mother, 
and fastening it on his back he swam ashore. He was in the 
hospital on North Brother Island for a day with some small 
injury, and then he was sent home. But his mother and sis- 
ters had not come home; they were with the unidentified dead, 
and the boy stays on alone there, looked after by neighbors. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

MEMORIAL SERVICES 

Comforting Words from Clergymen — A Sad Sabbath — Pathetic Scenes at 
Church — Quotations from Addresses of Noted Divines — A Whole City 
Mourns — Churches of Every Denomination Send Messages — Prayers are 
Read — Bells are Tolled during the Funerals. 

There were more than a hundred ministers, representing 
nearly every denomination, at the memorial meeting in St. 
Mark's Church in Sixth. street, held under the auspices of the 
Lutheran Ministers' Association. The Rev. Dr. William R. 
Huntington, rector of the Grace Episcopal Church, was there, 
and Rabbi Joseph Silverman, of the Temple Emanu-El. The 
purpose was to take such steps as were necessary to relieve 
those who had lost relatives. 

FIRST MEMORIAL MEETING 

The meeting was called to order by the Rev. John J. Hirsch- 
man, of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, and President 
of the New York Ministerium of the New York Synod of the 
Lutheran Church. Resolutions expressing the sorrow of the 
community for those in bereavement were adopted, followed 
by the singing of the hymn, "Wer Weis Wie Nahe Mir Mein 
Ende?" which, translated, is "Who Knows How Near My End 
May Be?" It was decided to have the^ unidentified buried in 
the Lutheran Cemetery, in a plot that the cemetery authorities 
have offered for the purpose. It was also agreed that 

memorial services be held in all Lutheran churches. The 

214 



MEMORIAL SERVICES 215 

Rev. Dr. Berkemeir, of the Wartburg Orphan Home, at 
Mount Vernon, announced that that institution would accept 
the charge of Httle ones bereft of parents. 

RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES FORGOTTEN 

The Rev. J. VJ. Loch, of Brooklyn, was made chairman of 
the relief committee, the other members being the Rev. Dr. 
John J. Hirschman, and the Rev. E. C. J. Kraeling, also of 
Brooklyn. This committee was to cooperate with the com- 
mittee appointed by Mayor McClellan. Arrangements were 
then made for the attendance of the Lutheran pastors at the 
various funerals. Clergymen of all denominations offered 
their services for the ceremonies at the homes of the dead. 

ALL LUTHERAN TO-DAY 

The Rev. Dr. Huntington, of the Grace Episcopal Church, 
was among the first at the meeting to express sympathy and 
sorrow for the bereaved parish. Dr. Huntington said: "I am 
here to convey to you the Episcopal Church's and my personal 
expression of sorrow and to extend to you whatever aid is in 
my power and in that of the staff of the Grace Church. 
Fourteen of my own people were lost in the sad catastrophe 
and your sorrow is my sorrow. We are all Lutheran to-day." 

"WE SHARE YOUR LOSS" 

Rabbi Silverman, of Temple Emanu-El, said: "I come to 
you as a minister of God to express the sympathy of my 
people. We feel and share your loss. It is our misfortune, not 
yours alone. Where we can help, we must help and will help." 

With considerable emotion the Rev. Dr. Hirschman said: 
"The brightest thought in this our dark hour is the fraternal 
sympathy not only of Protestant churches, but of the Church 
of Rome." 



2i6 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY FROM ALL DENOMINATIONS 

Expressions of sympathy were uttered by representatives 
of the Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and other denomina- 
tions. The Lutheran clergymen adjourned to the rectory 
directly in the rear of St. Mark's Church after the meeting, 
where they began the work of assigning their members to the 
conduct of funeral services. 

Memorial services were held on the Sunday following the 
disaster in churches all over the city for those who perished in 
the Slocum disaster, and special prayers were said by the con- 
gregations. In the stricken district every church, without 
respect to creed, was draped in deepest mourning. In many 
of these and other churches the collections taken were for the 
swelling of the fund now being collected for the benefit of the 
sufferers. 

GOD'S WAYS ARE HIGHER THAN OURS 

The Rev. Dr. John B. Remensnyder, President of the 
Lutheran Synod of New York, took the loss of the Slocum as 
the theme of his discourse. 

"The whole city," he said, "the entire country, aye, the 
world, is startled by the blow. The tragedy stands unexam- 
pled of its kind. A church is almost destroyed. A Sunday 
school is nearly depopulated. And what brings it very closely 
home to us is that those people were of our own faith and 
name." 

Still, he counseled his hearers, they should not lose faith. 
"Enough," he said, "that God's ways are higher than our ways, 
and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. Because His 
ways are in the great deep, let us not question them. Let us, 
while set to thinking by this fearful visitation, apply to our 
conscience its pointed lesson." 



MEMORIAL SERVICES ^ 217 

SPECIAL SERVICES 

Signally impressive were the services held in the Middle 
Dutch Church on Second avenue, near Sixth street. In the 
Slocum disaster the lives of seventy-three members of this 
church or their relatives were lost. Before beginning his ser- 
mon the Rev. Dr. John C. Fagg announced the hymn^"Come, 
Ye Disconsolate." It was softly sung by the congregation, 
and at its conclusion the pastor read a list containing the 
names of those of the church who had perished. From the 
Sunday school there are six dead and five missing. From the 
Industrial School ten are dead and three are missing. Forty- 
one children identified with the congregation were on the 
Slocum, and of these twenty-four were lost. 

There were special services at the Immanuel Lutheran 
Church, Lexington avenue and Eighty-eighth street, of which 
the Rev. William Schoenfeldt is pastor. 

At the Evangelical Lutheran Church, in East Houston 
street, the Rev. Julius Geyer, in speaking of the disaster, said: 
"The disaster was a visitation of God. Although we do not 
know His purpose at this time, it will be cleared up to us." 
He then paid tribute to the memory of John Hendencamp, a 
deacon of the church, who was among those who perished. 

Mgr. Lavelle, in his sermon at St. Patrick's Cathedral, 
referred to the Slocum disaster as an evidence of the uncer- 
tainty of life and the necessity for better living. At all masses 
said during the day a special prayer for the victims of the 
disaster was offered. The prayer was repeated at the Cath- 
olic churches. 

THE ACT OF MAN 

The Rev. John L. Helford, the pastor of Sts. Peter and 
Paul, in Wythe avenue, Williamsburg, said: 



2i8 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

"If a cowardly crew seeks Its own safety instead of fighting 
fire or saving the helpless, the disgrace is not due to Provi- 
dence, but to selfish and base humanity. To drive a boat at 
full speed with a burning furnace in her bow seems madness. 
To expect God to change the laws of nature would be pre- 
sumption. The disaster was not the act of God. It is the 
act of man. It comes from greed, neglect of duty, from 
defiance of law and conscience." 

PRAYERS ARE READ 

At Bishop Potter's recommendation, the prayer for those in 
great distress and illness was read in the Episcopal churches 
of the cit5^ The Rev. Dr. George C. Houghton, pastor of 
the "Little Church Around the Corner," made reference at 
the morning services to the calamity. He asked for the 
prayers of his congregation in behalf of the stricken con- 
gregation. Other preachers throughout the city made refer- 
ence to the Slocum disaster. The Rev. Henry Ruggles 
Remsen of Calvary Episcopal Church, Fourth avenue and 
Twenty-first street, said: 

"Our first idea is, of course, one of sympathy for the 
stricken congregation of St. Mark's, which has suffered such 
appalling losses. After its lesson our committee was unwilling 
to accept the great responsibility involved in taking children 
out in steamboats evidently not safe, and I now announce that 
the excursion arranged by Calvary Church for July 20th has 
been abandoned." 

SIN AND GREED THE CAUSES 

The Rev. Dr. James Oliver Wilson, at the Nostrand Ave- 
nue Church, Brooklyn, said: "But for sin in the Knickerbocker 
Company, the sin of greed and carelessness, the boat would 



MEMORIAL SERVICES 219 

not have burned. Four firemen properly stationed, with hose 
that was not rotten, could have checked any fire that might 
have broken out. But these four firemen would have cost the 
company ten dollars a day, and that would affect the profits 
and dividends, and v/as not to be thought of. What if nine 
hundred souls do perish? We must not imperil the divi- 
dends. Thus the sin of greed in the company overreached 
itself and destroyed nine hundred lives. And hundreds of 
rotten life preservers are chargeable to the same sin of greed. 
I charge this appalling disaster, those rotten life preservers, 
and rotten hose and lack of firemen, not to God's account, but 
to the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company. And also the 
cowardly conduct of most of the crev/, who saved themselves 
by letting the women and children perish. And if this be not 
enough, then bring in the Steamboat Inspector for his shame- 
ful share of this slaughter of the innocents. Sin in the cor- 
poration, sin in the inspector, and in the cowardly crew, 
occasioned this awful tragedy." 

PRACTICAL AND SPIRITUAL LESSONS 

The Rev. Dr. John Lloyd Lee, at the Westminster Presby- 
terian Church, said: "With the growth of corporations, there 
is a tendency to eliminate the individual, so that no one person 
will be held responsible when something goes wrong. A 
special effort should be made to meet the circumstances grow- 
ing out of this situation, and those who should see to it that 
steamboats are in proper condition should be held to a strict 
accountability." 

The Rev. Dr. Huntington, at Grace Church, said: "These 
poor sufferers have not died in vain if, following upon their 
dreadful pains, there comes better shipbuilding regulations, 



220 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

more rigid inspections of steam vessels, and stricter discipline 
aboard of vessels carrying human life." 

"Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God," was 
the text of the Rev. Dr. Robert S. MacArthur at the Calvary 
Baptist Church. The entire service — music, sermon and 
prayers — was a memorial for the dead of the St. Mark's 
Lutheran Church Sunday school excursion. 

"There has been no calamity so great in the history of this 
city," said Dr. MacArthur, "and the sorrow is not peculiar to 
any race, church or section of New York. 

"The disaster abounds in practical and spiritual lessons. 
In the first place it belongs to the great mystery in human 
existence. 

"This was not, however, what is known in a legal sense as 
an 'act of God.' We err if we blame God for the neglect of 
man. God is not responsible for our violation of nature's 
laws. The problem in the steamboat is the same as that in 
the creation of Adam. Men who built the boat were under 
obligation to obey the law and imder temptation to disobey. 
They yielded to temptation." 

Speaking of acts of heroism on the General Slocum, Dr. 
MacArthur said: 

"The discipline of the police force was shown at its best. 
The men on the tugs fighting in the midst of flames, the nurse 
learning to swim in saving others, the policeman saving twelve 
and willing to lose his life to save the thirteenth, ought to have 
crowns radiant with stars. 

"The sense of brotherhood has bee(n strong in every soul 
since this disaster. We have learned the lesson of sympathy. 
We must learn that of precaution. Theaters and ocean 



MEMORIAL SERVICES 221 

steamers have been made virtually fireproof. Why not the 
excursion boats? There should be steel sheathing around 
boilers and fireproof construction in deck work. There has 
been deliberate violation of many of the laws of safety. One 
takes his life in his hand when he goes on an excursion boat. 
It is a reproach on the science of the times and the civilization 
of America and a reflection upon the intelligonce and benevo- 
ence of the people." 

SOCIETY WAS RESPONSIBLE 

At the Lenox Avenue Unitarian Church the pastor, the 
Rev. Merle St. Croix Wright, preached on the subject, "Inter- 
pretations of Providence in the Face of Disaster." He said in 
part: "This has not been misfortune onl}'; the fault lies else- 
where. It is fault, abominable fault, of a third party. Did the 
simple, innocent people who went to their destruction have 
any hand in it? Did God have a hand in it? Yes, as He has 
in everything. But the culpability lies with those who failed 
of their antecedent duty, who slacked and skimped what they 
should have done. This thing was long gathering. It was 
not the work of an instant. We can find in this horror an 
indictment in which we all are concerned to some extent, 
though not equally. 

"Society is responsible, at least through its agents and 
inspectors, in view of the fact that it was necessary for it to be 
waked out of its miserable, sleepy negligence by an appalling 
horror." 

THE RESULT OF OUR SYSTEM OF POLITICS 

The Rev. Joseph Silverman, pastor of Temple Emanu-El, 
Fifth avenue and Forty-third street, in a sermon fixed the 
responsibility for the General Slocum disaster upon our polit- 



222 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

ical system; the greed and selfishness of corporations; the 
violation of laws and the dereliction of duty of officers. He 
said in part: 

"Words fail us to express our sympathy on the one hand 
and our abhorrence on the other. This seeming accident 
must be sifted to the bottom to fix the responsibility at the 
door of those to whom it belongs. It is only by the merest 
chance that we who are now living are not victims of a similar 
accident. Yesterday I went to that section of the city where 
the affliction fell. Groups of men, women and children gath- 
ered together, and with flowing tears commiserated with one 
another. We protest at the violation of law responsible for 
all this bereavement. In the midst of this great gloom there 
is one ray of cheer, that is, that all hearts arc touched alike by 
this calamity. 

"While we feel for the victims and for the sufferers, the 
question before us now is, What must be done for the future 
protection of our people? The dead of this calamity must be 
buried with all honor, whether known or unknown, identified 
or unidentified; for these are the dead not of the individual 
family, but of the city and nation. 

"This calamity is the result of our system of politics, and 
that reprehensible trait of human nature, greed and selfish- 
ness. The crime has been committed by the corporation, by 
officers who have been derelict in duty — that will be the ver- 
dict of just judges. Greed and sidfishness in the race after 
wealth overlooked the safety of human beings. 

'The result of this will be greater care for tlie future, due 
regard for the safety of the people. The citizens of the city, 
State and nation will be aroused to see that officers do their 



MEMORIAL SERVICES 223 

duty and that the majesty of the law is upheld, which is the 
only safety of a republic. We must see to it that we create 
better means of carrying humanity about on railways and in 
steamboats, and that the enactments of our legislature are 
preserved. 

"Our city will survive the dire disaster, and as a result we 
will live better, hope for better things and secure peace not 
only in heaven but on earth." 

TOLLING THE CHURCH BELLS 

As a mark of respect to the dead of the General Slocum 
disaster, as well as an expression of sympathy by the people 
of the whole city for the grief-stricken relatives, the suggestion 
was made that all the churches of the city toll their bells on 
Monday afternoon between two and three o'clock. Bishop 
Potter, to whom the idea was broached, very warmly 
favored the suggestion, and prominent clergymen who were 
seen agreed that the idea, if carried out, would be an appro- 
priate expression of the city's sympathy with the bereaved 
congregation of St. Mark's Church. 

Speaking for the Rev. Mr. Haas, pastor of St. Mark's 
Church, who was too ill to be seen, the Rev. A. Steimle, pastor 
of Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn, said: "It would be a beau- 
tiful expression of sympathy by the people of New York for 
the sorrowing members of St. Mark's, and I am sure that it 
would be received with most heartfelt appreciation by the 
congregation. Everybody has been so kind; people of all 
denominations have showered us with offers of help and 
expressions of sympathy and we are overwhelmed by these 
manifestations of kindness. To have all the church bells toll 



\ 



224 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

on Monday would be a most appropriate tribute of the city's 
sorrow." 

MANY PASTORS APPROVE 

The Rev. William R. Huntington, rector of Grace Church, 
said that he cordially approved the idea; that if Mayor 
McClellan requested it the chimes of Grace Church would be 
tolled for the victims of the General Slocum in unison with 
the bells of other chu^-ches. 

The Rev. John G. Fagg, pastor of the Collegiate Reformed 
Church, in whose congregation there are nearly seventy dead, 
said: "While we have agreed to have as little publicity as 
possible in connection with the funerals, it seems to me that 
the tolling of the church bells would not be out of place and 
I would not be opposed to it." 

The Rev. W. Ludwig, pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran 
Church, of Brooklyn; the Rev. Jacob W. Loch, pastor of the 
Schermerhorn Street Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, and the 
Rev. E. Kraeling, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, 
were in accord in favoring the suggestion. 

A FITTING MARK OF RESPECT 

The Rev. Dr. Houghton, rector of the Little Church Around 
the Corner, said that he thoroughly approved of the plan. 
"Prayers were offered in our church for the dead," he said. "It 
is right that a mark of respect be shown the victims of the awful 
disaster. I cannot express my sorrow and grief too deeply." 

The Rev. J. Ross Stevenson, minister of the Fifth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, said: "Though our church has no bells, 
I am in sympathy with the idea. Some way of showing sym- 
pathy for the families of the lost by tolling bells or displaying 
flags would be appropriate. Perhaps some of the churches that 
do not possess bells could raise flags as a mark of respect." 




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MEMORIAL SERVICES 225 

The Rev. Arthur W. Byrt, pastor of the Warren Street 
Methodist Church of Brooklyn, said that anything tending to 
show the city's sympathy with the bereaved of St. Mark's 
Church would be very appropriate and he heartily favored 
having the church bells of the city toll on Monday afternoon. 

"It is a beautiful idea," said the Rev. W.J. Hutchins, of the 
Bradford Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn. 

"I favor the idea very heartily," said the Rev. Macy McGee 
Waters of the Tompkins Avenue Congregational Church of 
Brooklyn. "It would be a fine expression of sympathy for the 
bereaved people." 

PASTOR HAAS'S FIRST SERMON 

"Believe in Him Always" is a text in German scrolled upon 
a beautiful stained-glass memorial window in St. Mark's 
Lutheran Church in Sixth street. It was upon these words that 
the gaze of Rev. Dr. George C. F. Haas rested nearly all the 
time as he delivered his first sermon since the blotting out of 
two-thirds of his congregation by the General Slocum disaster. 

It was a sad morning for the handful of men, women and 
children left of the congregation. The exterior of the little 
brick church was draped in long streamers of black cloth. 
Nearly every woman present wore a long black crape veil. 
Men of the congregation also were in black, and during the 
entire morning there were tears and sobs and fainting women, 
while stalwart men sobbed under the stress of the memory of 
their dead. Bandaged heads and scarred faces here and 
there marked the survivors of the disaster. 

FEW CHILDREN LEFT 

Pastor Haas, white-faced, trembling, tried to open the 
usual Sunday schools session of the church. The Sunday 



226 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

school room in the basement has always been too small for 
the children. It was designed not long ago to enlarge it. 
There is no need now. Three benches held all the children 
left of the Sunday school that used to fill to overflowing a row 
of twenty-five benches. 

THE PASTOR OVERCOME 

The memory of this seemed to sweep over Pastor Haas 
when he arose to open the service and thought of his pretty 
daughter and bright-faced wife, who used to sit over at one 
side of the school-room. 

"My dear children," said the pastor in German, "we are 
gathered here at this sad time " 

Then the speaker faltered, and then, as he sobbed in bitter 
grief, the Rev. Dr. J. P. Holstein, who was assisting him, led 
the stricken pastor away from the awe-stricken children. 

Later, in the church itself, Pastor Haas preached his ser- 
mon. Before he began, a broken choir, two members of which 
had perished on the General Slocum, sang a quaint old 
Lutheran choral. Pastor Haas's son played the organ. 

"Fast goes the time," sang the choir in a low chant, that 
sounded the keynote of sorrow upon which the services were 
set. "Then comes the death. Unannounced, death's hand 
may strike us. Oh, God, I pray have mercy on me when my 
end comes." 

In his sermon Pastor Haas scored in temperate but vigor- 
ous words those responsible for the accident. 

IT WAS NOT THE ACT OF GOD 

"It was not God," he said, "who was responsible for this 
long list of our dead. It was the negligence and carelessness 



MEMORIAL SERVICES 227 

of man and the greed of a corporation. Yet in my bitter sor- 
row I can still thank God for it all, because He has opened the 
eyes of men and women in our great city and in the whole 
country to what is required and necessary to save others from 
a like fate. No one on that fatal boat died in vain." 

The pastor took his text from St. Paul's second epistle to 
the Corinthians, xiii, 13: "All the saints salute you." 

"I have been through many a sorrow in life before this last 
one," he said. "I have been through many a hard struggle, 
but for the last two weeks it has been difficult for me to bear up 
under my burden. It equally has been difficult for you of my 
congregation to bear up, and to us all it seems that so much 
sorrow should not be brought upon us all by a just and loving 
God. To the officers and teachers of our church who have 
gone we can lend no helping hand. To those left we can say 
we must just continue our work. We must not give up. 'All 
the saints salute you.' 

"This accident shows that God's laws cannot be violated 
by men. Common, everyday precautions would have been 
enough to have saved us all. Yet, in this darkest hour, and 
with all the burden of affliction that has come upon us, I still 
look up to God. He strikes a silence at our murmurs." 

LOVE LIVES FOREVER 

Pastor Haas called on the congregation to bear up, for, as 
he expressed it, "Even though the beloved ones have gone, 
the loved ones still live." 

"Love cannot be killed," the speaker added. "We can 
hold our love as a memory of our dead. What is a calamity 
may be in fact a blessing, and though the cross be heavy it 
will not be made too heavy for us to carry." 



CHAPTER XIX 

NOBLE WORK AT THE HOSPITALS 

Physicians and Nurses Act as Life-Savers — Burned Children Tenderly Cared 
for — Setting a Baby's Broken Jaw — Caring for the Injured at North 
Brother Island — Heroic Nurses Brave Death to Aid the Help- 
less Ones — No Work Too Hard for Them — Energy Born of Desperation 
— Clamoring, Frantic Men and Women — An All-Night Task — The City 
Hospitals. 

There were many heroic acts performed by the women of 
North Brother Island in rescuing the Hving and caring for the 
dead in the terrible catastrophe. Officials and maids, women 
of education and position, humble scrubwomen and servants, 
they gave themselves royally. Those who could swim risked 
their lives not more generously than those who could not 
swim. Delicate girls swam out to the wreck or stood up to 
their armpits in the water as long as there was a soul they 
could save, and their devotion was equaled by those who on 
the shore worked to bring back the spark of life as long as 
there was a ray of hope. 

PULLED FROM THE PADDLEWHEEL 

One of the most brilliant acts of heroism was that of 
Pauline Pultz, a slender girl of seventeen years, who swam out 
to the stern, pulled a child from the revolving paddlewheel, 
brought it safely to shore, and then, finding that its jaw was 
fractured, set the jaw. Pauline is a waitress. Sitting on the 

back stoop of the doctor's house, in her plain black gown and 

228 



NOBLE WORK AT THE HOSPITALS 229 

waitress's apron, she told briefly the story of what she had 
done. 

"My father taught me to swim when I was seven or eight. 
I used to teach swimming at Twenty-fourth street. As soon 
as I saw there was a vessel on fire, I pulled off my oxford ties 
and ripped off my apron. 

" 'Don't go,' cried one of the girls, 'you'll die!' 

" 'I must go,' I replied. 'I can't see those people drown 
without giving a hand.' 

"They tried to hold me back by my skirt, but I let them 
pull my skirt off me and rushed into the water in my petticoat. 

" 'In God's name, jump!' I called to the people. 'Throw 
your babies overboard; we'll catch them.' 

SAVED MANY LIVES 

"There was a woman who stood on the upper deck in the 
bow, with her baby in her arms, crying for help. I swam out 
to her. She ran back near to the paddlewheel and threw the 
baby by mistake right into the wheel. The wheel was going. 
I swam up, and supporting myself with one hand, with the 
other pulled the baby out from the churning waters, and ran 
up with it to one of the boatmen's rooms. Then I saw the 
little thing's jaw was broken. So I laid it on the bed and set 
the bone in place. I'm not a nurse. I never set a bone before 
in my life. I couldn't do it again. 

"Then I went back into the water and with a rope brought 
out a group of three girls. One was a girl of sixteen, another 
was a young married woman who had lost two children, and 
the other was a young woman. One of them was named 
Annie. That's all I know about any of them. The next 
time, as I was swimming out, a large woman who was lying on 



230 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

top of the water and looked to be dead caught me by the neck 
in a death grip. I had to fight for my Hfe. When they 
dragged us out I fainted. The woman was badly wounded. 
Afterward I helped to bandage her arm. I saved five from 
the boat and had pulled in ever so many by the time I 
fainted." 

Pauline Pultz's tremendous exertions may cost her dear. 
By jumping down from the paddlewheel she bruised her foot 
and is hobbling around in consequence. Yesterday afternoon, 
after waiting on table as if nothing had happened, she fainted 
dead away, and when she came to was carried off to bed 
hysterical. 

FED THE CHILDREN 

And then there was Mary Clarke, tall, dark, with a thin, 
worn face and eloquent eyes, a chambermaid. 

"I was drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen when I heard 
the whistle, and, thinking it might be the Edison on fire, I 
rushed down to the pier," she said. "When I saw the steamer 
all on fire, and the people crowded in the stern, I ran along 
the banks calling to them to jump. When they did jump, they 
fell right one on top of the other. Then I saw the rail give 
way. As I pulled the children out, Alice Meinhart, a kitchen 
maid, took them out of my arms, and fed them with hot milk 
and put them in dry clothes. 

"I was changing the clothes of a little boy of nine or ten I'd 
pulled out. 'Leave me,' he says, 'and go to some one who is 
hurt worse.' He lived in Second avenue. 'I'm so glad mother 
didn't come,' he says, 'or else she and baby would have been 
lost; 

"He was the manliest little fellow I ever saw. But they 



NOBLE WORK AT THE HOSPITALS 231 

were all brave. Everybody wanted some one else to be 
helped first. I also saved an older boy, who had had the skin 
burned off both his hands, and two women." 

A HEROIC COOK 

The story of the heroism of the workingwomen of North 
Brother Island — the scrubwomen, laundresses and wait- 
resses — just the plain, simple people who day after day go 
about their humble tasks without acknowledgment of any 
kind, will never be known. Take Catherine Hanley, the cook. 
All that terrible Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night 
she stood over the range in the big kitchen preparing soup 
and sending it down by the bucketful to the workers at the 
water's edge. She would take no rest, except to go to the 
beach and help the others. Kate Duffy, a cook, was another 
heroine. All day and night she slaved, heating milk and 
soup. 

THEY DID THEIR DUTY 

Mary Maher, a helper in the measles ward, was making 
toast for a patient when the alarm came. A few minutes 
later she was standing in the water nearly up to her waist. 
She saved three boys and one woman, besides one woman who 
proved to be dead. "I only did my duty," said Mary. 

Margaret Lawrence, another helper, rushed out without 
her stockings, and with the water above her waist rescued 
three boys, three babies, one man and three women. 

'T worked until 8:30 in the evening in and out of the water, 
and then I began covering the faces of the dead." 

SUCCORED THE VICTIMS 

Magnificent as was the heroism of all the women on the 
island, none behaved more gallantly than Miss White, the 



232 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

superintendent of nurses, and Mrs. Smith, the matron. And 
none, it is safe to say, carried such a weight of responsibiHty. 
For not only were they straining every nerve to succor the 
victims of the wreck — they were responsible at the same time 
for the lives and comfort of the patients in the wards. Miss 
Smith had the nurses working under her resuscitating the 
more dead than alive bodies as they were dragged ashore. 
Mrs. Smith was responsible for all the supplies of blankets, 
stimulants, clothing and food. For two whole days they did 
not have six hours' sleep, but in their white uniforms they were 
as neat, as calm, as thoughtful for others, as if nothing unusual 
had happened. 

"We couldn't all go into the water," said Mrs. Smith. "It 
wouldn't have been any use for us to have got the people out 
of the water and then left them on the bank. As soon as a 
body was brought in, a nurse set to work to resuscitate it. 
Some of the nurses were asleep when the accident happened. 
They threw their mackintoshes over their nightdresses and 
rushed down with bandages and medicaments in their hands, 
and worked till they were wet to the skin up to their waists 
over the dripping bodies." 

DROPPED FROM EXHAUSTION 

Miss White herself worked till she dropped from exhaus- 
tion, trying to induce artificial respiration in the half-drowned 
children and women. She showed how it is done — the arms 
raised over the head, then brought down to the sides, the 
chest forcibly depressed, then the body rolled over a barrel, 
face down, to force the water from the lungs. 

"At first we had no barrels," she went on, "so we rolled 
them over our knees. 



NOBLE WORK AT THE HOSPITALS 233 

"The nurses worked heroically, but I will not say that they 
deserve more credit than the others. Nurses expect to sacri- 
fice themselves, and without acknowledgment or recompense — 
it is our business," she added, smiling wanly. (When a woman 
has gone fifty-seven hours on five hours' sleep she is apt to 
look wan.) "But the conduct of the ward helpers and other 
women employees was superb. 

"No, I won't say anything about myself — I haven't done 
anything, and I won't let you say I have." Then, "This little 
building is the chapel. We laid the corpses in a row along 
that wall," and she pointed to the shabby side of the low build- 
ing. "Do you see how these trees are scorched right up to the 
top? That is with the flames from the burning steamer." 
She showed a splendid maple, by the water's edge, seared to 
its crown. "On this lawn we laid four hundred bodies in 
rows — first the living, then the dead." 

REVIVING THE INJURED 

Miss White was equally matter of fact with regard to 
herself. 

"As soon as the General Slocum came around the point I 
sent back for cheesecloth and bandaging muslin," she said. 
"While Mrs. Smith and the nurses were busy bringing the vic- 
tims to, I went back and got whisky and more bandages and 
cheesecloth. Then I started out to see what I could do 
myself. I tried several times to get up to the wreck, but the 
heat was so intense I could not, until I put the skirt of my 
dress over my face. In that way I was able to wade out up to 
my knees. The call came for ladders. There was no one to 
go for them, so I went. They were thirty-five feet long and 
dreadfully heavy, but I dragged them down to the water. I 



234 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

never could have done it if I had been in my senses. I didn't 
know anything or feel anything. 

"I saw a boy and his mother drifting in. He was a fine 
looking lad of about twelve. I lay down on the sea-wall on my 
stomach and called to him to hold on to his mother, and I 
would get her out. He had his hand under her chin and was 
paddling along as well as he could. She was unconscious, and 
weighed, I should think, 250 pounds. Somehow I got her up 
over the sea-wall and kneaded the water out of her. She lived, 
I think. In reading over the list of injured I fancied the boy 
might be No. 47 in Lincoln Hospital. 

"As soon as the injured revived we wrapped them in blan- 
kets and brought them up to the hospital. We stripped the 
place of blankets. We used up four hundred sheets and as 
many pillow cases. The nurses had their shoes and uniforms 
destroyed by the mud and water and torn to pieces on the 
rocks. Some of them lost three uniforms." 

AT THE HOSPITALS 

The hospitals to which the injured of the Slocum were 
taken — Lebanon, Lincoln and Harlem — were the scenes of 
what seemed to be an endless search for many of the excur- 
sionists from whom nothing has been heard and whose names 
are among those of the missing. Hoping that in the wards of 
one of these institutions they might find some trace of the 
missing ones, members of the bereaved families flocked there 
in scores, only to pass along the rows of white beds without 
finding those for whom they looked; all of the hospital 
patients had already been identified. 

At all of the hospitals, although the attendants knew that 
the search for missing ones would be unavailing there, the 



NOBLE WORK AT THE HOSPITALS 235 

greatest consideration was shown to all callers, so that the 
doubt and anxiety could at once be removed from their minds. 

The story of the noble work done by physicians and nurses 
at the various city hospitals will never be told. It was a labor 
of love, cheerfully performed, and every one was loud in 
praise of their noble efforts to relieve the suffering, minister 
to the dying and care for the dead victims of the Slocum 
disaster. The following public recognition, in the shape of a 
telegram from the president of the Lebanon Hospital, of the 
splendid work done by Superintendent William Daub, his 
daughter Hannah, and the doctors and nurses of the hospital, 
in caring for the injured is only one of many such communica- 
tions received by the heads of this and other hospitals. 

"William Daub, Superintendent: Directors of hospital 
appreciate highly the indefatigable efforts of your heroic staff, 
assisted by doctors, nurses and your daughter, in the unfortu- 
nate Slocum disaster." 



CHAPTER XX 

FUNERALS OF THE VICTIMS 

Funerals from Dawn to Dark — Morbid Crowds — Burial of Mrs. Haas — The 
Unknown Dead — Children Take Part in the Ceremonies — Curiosity 
Seekers— The Child with the Rose. 

Nearly a hundred funerals of victims of the Slocum disaster 
were held daily until all the bodies had been buried, and on 
account of the demand for hearses and carriages the cere- 
monies began early in the morning and lasted until late at 
night. In many instances two coffins were carried in the 
same hearse, and in some cases two and even three hearses 
carried away the dead of a single family. In every side street 
and along the avenues from First to Eighteenth and Avenue 
A to Third avenue there was at least one funeral. 

CARRIAGES AND HEARSES GOING TO AND FRO 

In the streets immediately surrounding St. Mark's Church 
carriages and hearses were going to and fro all day long. In 
Fifth, Sixth and Seventh streets, between First and Second 
avenues, the curbs were lined continuously with hearses and 
carriages. Wagons and messengers hurried here and there 
with flowers, and crowds of friends of the v?c*"ims lined the 
sidewalks. 

In nearly every instance friends of the victims accompanied 
the funeral for at least three or four blocks, marching in col- 
umns of twos, the head of which would be on a line with the 

hearse. 

256 



FUNERALS OF THE VICTIMS 237 

In some cases the morbid throngs so crowded the rooms 
that the bereaved families had difficulty in reaching the 
coffins, while throngs of the morbidly curious even tried to 
force their way into the carriages, in some instances being 
restrained only by the threats of arrest made by the police. 

AT THE LUTHERAN CEMETERY 

One hundred and fifty-nine bodies were buried in the 
Lutheran Cemetery at Middle Village. Five others were 
buried at Mount Olivet, close by, and six in Linden Hill 
Cemetery, which is not far from the Lutheran. 

The funerals began arriving not long after the noon hour. 
It was dark and lanterns were used to light the graves when 
the last coffins were lowered. At times there were long waits 
for the mourners, as the carriages could only enter the ceme- 
tery a few at a time, and at periods the congestion caused 
funerals to become blocked a mile from the gates. Not less 
than twenty-five thousand sight-seers, in addition to the 
mourners, visited the cemetery, and thousands lined the 
various avenues of approach to see the long line of funerals 
pass. 

A little before the middle of the afternoon Borough Presi- 
dent Cassidyof Queens drove to the cemetery. The clouds of 
dust caused him to marshal immediately a force of sprinkling 
carts. 

HANDLING_THE CROWD 

Police Inspector Kane, with a force of one hundred and 
seventy men, aided by Central Office men from Manhattan 
and Brooklyn, handled the great crowd in and around the 
cemetery successfully, and only one case called for ambulance 
treatment. There was constant danger in the cemetery that 



238 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

some of the over-curious would be forced into the many open 
graves which gaped in all parts of the grounds. This was 
prevented by hard work by the police. Many women fainted 
in the course of the afternoon, but all were revived at a hotel 
near the entrance. 

One woman fainted at the funeral of a friend. She fell, 
and her left arm, turning under her, was broken. She was 
removed to the German Hospital in Brooklyn. 

DEMAND FOR BURIAL PLOTS 

The approaches to the cemetery were policed by a squad 
of mounted patrolmen. So great was the demand for new 
plots that the cemetery officials had to sell plots in a section 
which they had not expected to use this year. Men worked 
all night clearing away the underbrush which had been 
allowed to grow on this tract, and graves were opened for use. 

CHILDREN'S SERVICES 

There were services Sunday morning in the chapel in the 
cemetery, and in the afternoon the children of the Lutheran 
Sunday school in Middle Village took part in a service. 
Eighty-seven, ranging in years from five to ten, each carried a 
single potted plant, and, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. 
Peterson, marched from the main entrance to the plot where 
eleven unidentified children were buried. After a prayer by 
Dr. Peterson, the children grouped about the plot sang 
"Nearer, My God, to Thee." Then the plants carried by the 
children were planted on the plot. 

TEE FUNERAL OF MRS. HAAS 

Pathetic incidents marked the funeral of Mrs. Anna Haas, 
wife of the pastor of St. Mark's Church. No one but family 



FUNERALS OF THE VICTIMS 239 

friends and clergymen of the Lutheran Church were admitted 
to the darkened parlors of the parsonage at No. 74 Seventh 
street, where the services were held. 

Although the husband, suffering from injuries received in 
the disaster and crushed under the grief of his loss, was barely 
able to leave his bed, he insisted upon sitting beside the body 
of his wife. Miss Emma Haas, his sister and organist of the 
church, was carried into the parlor on a stretcher with her 
head swathed in bandages. She was rescued from the wreck 
of the Slocum in what was at first supposed to be a dying con- 
dition. It was against the advice of her physicians that she 
attended her sister-in-law's funeral. 

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL TORTURE 

Throughout the services a doctor sat beside the stretcher 
administering restoratives from time to time to the woman, 
tortured alike by her wounds and her grief. Peculiarly simple 
were the services. The Rev. J. W. Loch, of the Schermerhorn 
German Lutheran Church of Brooklyn, offered the prayer, 
then followed the reading of the Ninetieth Psalm by the Rev. 
Hugo Hofemann of St. Paul's German Lutheran Church, 
and a brief sermon by the Rev. Alexander Lichter of Hoboken. 
The sermon was a brief eulogy of the dead. It concluded 
with the words: 

"We must all be good Christians, recognizing in this 
tragedy, most appalling, the inscrutable hand of the Divine 
Providence. In times like these, we must show the world that 
our faith in God is unshaken." 

The Lord's Prayer and the benediction concluded the 
services. 

In the street fronting the parsonage an immense crowd had 



240 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

congregated, held in check by a strong police guard under the 
personal command of Inspector Schmittberger. A single 
hearse stood in front of the door, but an hour passed before 
the dead body of the pastor's wife was carried out. 

The body of Mrs. Titamore of Brooklyn, a sister of Mrs. 
Haas, had been identified at the morgue and arrangements 
were hastily made to have the two bodies buried together. 
So while the silent crowd waited and wondered at the unac- 
countable delay, family friends were hurriedly preparing the 
sister's body for burial. Its arrival in a second hearse was the 
signal for the funeral cortege to start. 

Pastor Haas followed the bodies to the grave. He was 
urged by physicians and friends to abandon the attempt and 
return to his bed, but he waved them off with a trembling 
hand and said: 

"No, gentlemen, she was a devoted wife, and though it kills 
me I shall pay her this last tribute." 

Twenty-eight Lutheran ministers attended the funeral 
services of the pastor's wife and followed the bodies to the 
Lutheran Cemetery in Queens County. 

FUNERAL OF HENRY SEIFERT 

The funeral of Henry Seifert was held at the Twenty-third 
street branch of the Young Men's Christian Association. Mr. 
Seifert had been for two months the social secretary of the 
branch, his duties being especially to meet strangers and 
to encourage friendliness and sociability among the members. 
He was a member of St. Mark's Church, and was practically a 
member of the family of the pastor, Mr. Haas, being accus- 
tomed to stay in his house when in the city. He was just 
about to graduate from the training school of the Young 



FUNERALS OF THE VICTIMS 241 

Men's Christian Association at Springfield, Mass. Burial was 
in the Young Men's Christian Association plot at Woodlawn. 

TRY TO FORCE THEIR WAY INTO CARRIAGES 

Five thousand persons crowded into East Ninth street, the 
majority to see the hearses and carriages depart from the 
home of Edward and Charles Schmid, where Catharine 
Schmid, wife of Edward and mother of Charles Schmid, lay 
dead. In coffins in the same room were the bodies of Kate 
Schmid and Arthur Schmid, wife and son of Charles Schmid. 
The little parlor and other rooms in the Schmid apartments 
were crowded to suffocation by a curious throng, for the most 
part attracted by morbid curiosity. It was with great diffi- 
culty that the relatives and friends of the bereaved family 
gained access to the apartment. 

THE UNKNOWN DEAD 

The Slocum's nameless dead, buried Saturday, tier on tier, 
in a grim trench in the Lutheran Cemetery, Middle Village, 
Long Island, were remembered Sunday by the little children 
of the Trinity Evangelical Church there, who marched to 
the cemetery with arms full of flowers and smothered the 
unmarked graves beneath fragrant blossoms. 

The gracious deed of the little ones, prompted by the sym- 
pathy they felt for those who had none to mourn them, was 
witnessed by thousands of men and women, the great majority 
of whom had come to the cemetery to visit the graves of loved 
ones, or to bury their dead, victims of the same disaster which 
had filled the trench. 

FEW DRY EYES IN THE MULTITUDE 

There were few dry eyes in the multitude which looked on, 
as the children, one by one, filed past the trench, which had 



242 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

been filled Saturday night, and tenderly placed their flowers 
above the dead. When the last child had passed, the clodded 
earth was no longer to be seen. The children had left behind 
them a great mound of flowers. 

The placing of flowers was preceded by a service conducted 
by the Rev. Dr. Peterson, the pastor of Trinity Church. The 
children sang as requiems hymns especially selected for the 
occasion, and joined in the recital of the creed and the Lord's 
Prayer. One of the hymns, the German song "Where Doth 
the Soul Find Its Home?" seemed especially in keeping with 
the occasion, having in its strains all the woe of a miserere. 

There were over two hundred children in line when the 
march past the great unmarked grave began, and there was 
not one who came empty-handed. 

ENORMOUS CROWD AT THE CEMETERY 

Not less than fifty thousand visited the Lutheran Cemetery 
Sunday. From the time the gates were opened in the morn- 
ing until long after night had fallen the chapel bell at its 
entrance tolled continually. There was no break in the line 
of funeral processions which filed by. When the last hearse 
had passed there were 159 newly-made graves in the burial 
ground. 

In the lanes between the tombs in both the old and the 
new divisions of the cemetery there was constant confusion 
resulting from the influx of funerals. At one time there were 
seventeen hearses waiting in the main avenue of the nevv^ 
cemetery to reach the public burying ground, while as many 
more were almost hopelessly tangled on the side avenues. 

In anticipation of the funerals fixed for Sunday, a large 
detail of police was early on hand. Their work was almost 



FUNERALS OF THE VICTIMS 243 

invaluable in the turmoil which came with the advent of thou- 
sands of mourners. 

MANY CURIOSITY SEEKERS 

When the first funeral party reached the cemetery it found 
the street before it lined with flower vendors who had dis- 
counted the demand for their wares. There were vendors, 
too, of all manner of eatables and drinkables. By noon the 
stream of funeral processions was well under way, and every 
car which arrived was filled to its capacity. 

With the afternoon came many curiosity seekers, whose 
presence complicated matters still further. Every hearse was 
followed by them, and they elbowed the mourners for advan- 
tageous places by graves beside which funeral parties had 
gathered. 

A MILITARY FUNERAL 

A funeral which resulted in a great crush was that of John 
Schaefer, whose body was identified at the morgue on Thurs- 
day. Mr. Schaefer, who was but twenty-six years of age, was 
a veteran of the Spanish war and a member of the William 
H. Hubbell Camp of Veterans, Brooklyn. He got a military 
burial. Draped in the United States flag, his body was fol- 
lowed to the grave by his comrades. The hearse was pre- 
ceded by a brass band, which as it entered the cemetery gates 
played the "Dead March" from "Saul." The solemn strains 
attracted every sight-seer within hearing, and the police had 
to open a way for the procession to pass. The services at the 
grave were conducted by the Rev. William H. Green, the 
chaplain of the command. 

WANTED FOUR GRAVES 

When the line at the office of the cemetery's superin- 
tendent was longest a wild-eyed man approached an officer 



244 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

who was on duty there and said that he wished to secure four 
graves. 

"I want one for my wife," he told the roundsman, "and two 
for my children. When I bury them I will use the fourth one 
for myself. I will have nothing left to live for." 

The officer tried to comfort the disconsolate man, who 
finally walked away, weeping softly. "I would have arrested 
him at any other time than this," said he. "But I hadn't the 
heart to do so under the circumstances." 

"CHILD WITH THE ROSE" 

"The child with the rose," as it was referred to at the 
morgue, received a separate funeral. The baby girl, a year 
old, was in the first lot of bodies from the wreck sent to the 
morgue. Yet no one called for it. No one identified it. No 
one asked about a baby that could possibly fit the description 
of this one. 

Every day the great crowds that called to try to identify 
bodies passed by this one. It excited comments, and one 
little girl placed a rose upon it, but though its rich dress indi- 
cated well-to-do parents, no one claimed it. It became the 
"child with the rose," and it was sent to the grave that way. 

The Stephen Merritt Burial Company took charge of the 
burial. They held a service for the child in their chapel, and 
a funeral and interment in keeping with the great sympathy 
the child's fate had aroused. The pink rose, too, was buried 
with her. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE CORONER'S INQUEST 

Testimony of Owners and Crew of the Slocum — No Fire Precautions — Refuse 
to Testify — Bursting of the Hose — Only One Member of the Crew 
Drowned — Hero Day at the Inquiry — Scum of Powdered Cork on the 
Water — Rotten Hose and Useless Life Preservers — The Survivors Tes- 
tify — Held to the Grand Jury. 

The inquest was held in the large drill room of the Second 
Battery Armory at One Hundred and Seventy-seventh street 
and Bathgate avenue. Monday morning, June 20th, all the 
arrangements w^ere as nearly perfect as it was possible to 
make them. Technically the inquest was upon the death of 
only one of the victims, which one was not announced. 

SPECTATORS IN MOURNING 

In the body of the room were many women in mourning, 
survivors of the disaster, who had lost husbands and children. 
Some of these still had their arms and heads bound in band- 
ages, and wept quietly as the details of the tragedy were 
brought out. A great number of exhibits were in court, includ- 
ing one of the standpipes of the vessel, sections of hose, life 
preservers and various other odds and ends. 

The examination of witnesses was conducted by Assistant 

District Attorney Garvan. Ex-Judge Dittenhoefer appeared 

as personal counsel for President Barnaby; Terence McManus 

for the Knickerbocker Steamboat Company, and Assistant 

United States District Attorney Wise for the Government. 

245 



246 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

S.J. Gilbert appeared for Steamboat Inspector Lundberg, who 
was one of those who inspected the Slocum, and John D. 
Lindsay, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 
to Children, was also in attendance. Among the others who 
attended were Inspector Lundberg, General Uhler, inspector 
general of the department in Washington; Robert S. Rodie, 
the chief inspector for the district; Deputy Fire Commissioner 
Churchill, and Fire Marshal Seery. 

WIDE SCOPE OF INQUEST 

After the consultation between Coroner Berry and Mr. 
Garvan it was announced that the inquest would be made to 
include the whole of the Slocum's death roll. During the 
examination of witnesses all other witnesses except the injured 
passengers were excluded from the courtroom. 

Frank A. Barnaby, president of the Knickerbocker Steam- 
boat Company, who lives at 150 West Fifty-seventh street, 
was the first witness called. Mr. Barnaby, at the request of 
Mr. Garvan, produced a number of bills which he said were 
for life preservers, fire apparatus, and engines for the past 
three years. 

"You know of your own knowledge that these bills are for 
Slocum apparatus?" asked Mr. Garvan as he offered them in 
evidence. "I do," replied the witness. 

"I have here five bills," said Mr. Garvan, "they are for life 
preservers' — about 350 of them — and they are dated May 14, 
1902; April 30, 1903; May, 1903; April, 1904, and May, 1904. 
You are sure all these were for the General Slocum?" "Yes." 

"If that is the case," said Mr. Garvan suddenly, "how is it 
that I find in some of these bills the name 'Grand Republic' 
scratched out or taken out with acid and the name 'Slocum' 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 247 

inserted? One of the bills still stands in the name of the 
Grand Republic." "I did not know about that," answered Mr. 
Barnaby. "I suppose some bookkeeper must have done that." 
"What is the name of that bookkeeper?" "I don't know. 
Separate accounts are kept for each boat. The books will 
show to which one the life preservers went." 

ABOUT LIFE PRESERVERS 

"Any erasures in them?" asked Mr. Garvan. Judge Ditten- 
hoefer muttered an objection, and the question went unan- 
swered. 

In answer to further questions, Mr. Barnaby submitted the 
certificate of inspection, which stated that on May 7, 1904, the 
General Slocum was in proper condition to carry 2,500 passen- 
gers, and that she had 2,550 life preservers. St. Mark's Church 
had chartered the boat for the day, paying $350 therefor, and 
the Company served no refreshments on board, merely turned 
the ship over to the church officials. Mr. Barnaby also said 
that "other businesses took up most of his time, and that he 
knew nothing of ships or shipbuilding, relying for the details 
upon his subordinates." 

Mr. Barnaby also testified that he had told Captain Pease, 
who planned the Slocum, to put the boat in first-class condi- 
tion, and $12,000 had been spent on repairs suggested. The 
estimated value of the Slocum was $165,000 and the steamer 
carried $70,000 insurance. 

NO FIRE DRILLS 

John J . Coakley, a deckhand, was called to the stand and 
testified that he was never present at a fire drill on board the 
Slocum, and that he had never been instructed what to do in 
case of fire. He said after he had finished counting the pas- 



248 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

sengers, a duty which had been assigned him, a child ran up 
to him and said "smoke was coming up one of the stairways." 
He then noticed there was smoke issuing from the forward 
cabin, which was below the main deck. In answer to questions 
as to what the cabin contained, he said there were two barrels 
of oil used for masthead lamps, ropes, brooms and a barrel of 
salt hay in which glasses had been packed. 

TRIED TO SMOTHER THE FLAMES 

Coakley then detailed what he did after his attention had 
been called to the fire. He said not much smoke was coming 
up the stairway, but when he ran down he could not distin- 
guish anything clearly. The smoke, however, he said, smelt 
like that from burning hay. He tried to pick up some old 
canvas that was there and throw it on the fire, but it was fast- 
ened down. 

He saw two bags of charcoal, and thought to smother the 
fire by emptying one of them over it. It had no effect. He 
said he stayed down there two minutes, and then he ran 
upstairs and told Mate Flanagan, who was standing at the 
'midship gangway, that there was a fire in the forward cabin. 
He then ran down again, but was not sure if the other men 
followed him. When he got below again the place was in a 
blaze. He then ran up to the main deck again, and draw- 
ing his clasp knife, cut the fastenings holding the fire hose in 
place. 

Coakley said he pulled down the hose, and a lot of other 
men near-by took hold so as to run it out. He then turned on 
the valve and the water came through at a pressure of thirty- 
five pounds. As soon as it did so the hose, which had kinked 
in several places, burst. Finally, Coakley said, when he saw it 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 249 

was futile to try to fight the flames he ran up to the hurricane 
deck, begging the women to keep quiet as he went. He 
pulled the wires holding the life preservers in place, and a lot 
of them fell on the deck. 

When questioned as to the condition of the life preservers, 
he said that he had never noticed any of them before and had 
not seen them tear apart when the people grabbed them. He 
also stated that efforts were made to lower a lifeboat, but that 
so many of the passengers crowded into it that the craft was 
swamped. 

WHAT TWO DECKHANDS HAD TO SAY 

Thomas Collins, a deckhand, said he never saw anything 
of a fire drill, nor had he been instructed what to do in case 
of fire and saw no lifeboat lowered. When he first saw the 
fire he helped to get the hose out. He flatly contradicted Coak- 
ley by the statement that it was he, and not Coakley, who 
broke down the hose. He said he also pulled down some of 
the life preservers. He didn't know how many. 

James Corcoran, who said he was a sort of head deckhand, 
said he had never seen any fire drills on the boat, although he 
had been with her for three seasons. He said he tried to go 
down to where the fire was, but the place was all ablaze. 
Then he pulled down the nozzle of the hose, which he 
explained was coiled up and hung from the ceiling. The hose 
kinked, and after a little water had dribbled through the noz- 
zle the hose burst in several places. He ran down and closed 
the door of the forward cabin where the fire was raging, but 
the flames soon ate their way through and the whole forward 
part of the boat was ablaze. He stated, also, that no life- 
boats were lowered. 



250 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
HIS MEMORY FAILED HIM 

First Mate Flanagan said there was one barrel of mineral 
sperm oil in the forward cabin and a lot of empty oil barrels. 
He couldn't remember if there was any kerosene there. To a 
lot of other questions Flanagan said he couldn't remember, 
and then Mr. Garvan asked him what was the matter with his 
memory. 

"Well, if you went through what I did," said Flanagan, 
"your memory might be bad, too. I can't sleep nights. I 
imagine I see the whole thing before me. The doctor says I 
was out of my head on Wednesday night." 

Flanagan said he told the chief engineer to turn on the 
water, but the hose burst, and the coupling blew off besides. 
Then he told the men to help the passengers and man the 
lifeboats if they could. 

Assistant United States District Attorney Wise here got an 
admission from Flanagan that he had no license, although he 
had been first mate for two years. 

"Did you see any women with life preservers on?" asked 
Mr. McManus. "Yes, I pulled one out of the water." 

"Hadn't she sunk with that life preserver on?" put in Mr. 
Garvan. "Yes," said Flanagan. 

"What happened to her afterward?" 

"She died after she got ashore." 

"Died from drowning, did she not?" 

"That's what they said." 

REFUSED TO TESTIFY 

A sensation came when Henry Lundberg, an assistant 
United States steamboat inspector, the one who inspected the 
hull of the Slocum and the life-saving appliances and fire 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 251 

apparatus on board the boat on May 6th, was put on the stand. 
Lundberg absolutely refused to answer any questions put to him 
by the coroner or by Assistant District Attorney Garvan, giving 
as his reasons that his answers might tend to incriminate him. 
At the opening of the inquest Mr. Garvan announced that 
he intended to prove that no new life preservers had been put 
on board the Slocum since 1895. But for the fact that fire had 
destroyed the books of the concern that made the appliances, 
Mr. Garvan said, he could prove that no new preservers had 
been on the boat for even a longer period. 

THE HOSE BURST 

Daniel O'Neill had been a deckhand on the Slocum only 
since April, before she was put in commission. It was his first 
work of that kind. He said he was on board when an 
inspector went over the boat, but he did not know what the 
inspector did. He did not see any life preservers taken down 
for inspection. When he heard of the fire he ran to the hose. 
It kinked and burst as soon as the water was turned on. He 
then tried to fasten the rubber hose used for washing the deck 
to the standpipe, but it wouldn't fit. 

Asked how he got away from the boat, O'Neill said that he 
saw a small rowboat alongside. A number of people were in 
it, and he jumped in also. This capsized the boat, and 
O'Neill then said he swam ashore. He admitted that the 
man in the rowboat had told him not to jump, as the boat was 
then already filled to its capacity, but he paid no attention to 
the warning. He said he thought he could help the man 
manage the boat if he jumped in with him. He said he did 
not take any one with him, and helped to rescue none of the 
people in the water. 



252 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
THE ASSISTANT ENGINEER TESTIFIES 

Everett Brandow, the assistant engineer on board the 
Slocum, was called. He said he had been on the boat six 
seasons. He described the donkey engine's place, and said 
there was a valve to fill the fire-room with steam in case of a 
fire there, but that was the only place on the boat so supplied. 
No steam could be turned into the forward cabin or any other 
part of the hold, although the United States regulations pro- 
vided that there should be such appliances. 

PRESERVER KEPT GIRL DOWN 

Brandow was asked if he saw anything of any life preserv- 
ers. He said he saw one on a little girl who was near the 
shore in shallow water. The child was under the life pre- 
server, Brandow said, and it seemed to be keeping her down. 
He pulled her ashore and took the life preserver off her. She 
was unconscious, and he believed that she afterward died. 

THE BOOKKEEPER EXPLAINS ERASURES 

Miss S. C. Hall, the bookkeeper for the Knickerbocker 
Steamboat Company, who had erased the name of the Grand 
Republic from bills for life preservers and substituted the 
name Slocum, was brought to the stand. She had some of 
the books of the company with her, dating back three years. 
The books prior to that time, she said, had been destroyed. 
Miss Hall, who has been with the company since 1890, 
admitted that she had made the erasure with acid, but denied 
that this had been done since the disaster. She said that she 
had done it simply as a matter of convenience, to aid her in 
her bookkeeping, and that she was in the habit of doing so on 
the books as well as on the bills. She was asked if she had 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 253 

ever changed any other bills, and said she had, but could 
not remember when. 

PILOT WEAVER UPHOLDS VAN SCHAICK 

On the testimony of Second Pilot Weaver it was developed 
that the fire hose used on the boat cost sixteen cents a foot, 
but when asked what he thought of hose at that price, Fire 
Chief Croker said, "I would hate to have to put out fire with 
it. I don't believe that water could be run through it without 
having it all leak out." 

Pilot Weaver upheld Captain Van Schaick in his action of 
running the boat aground on North Brother Island, and said 
he would have done exactly the same thing. 

Weaver said he never saw a fire drill on board the boat, 
and that no lifeboats were lowered. When asked how long 
it was between the^ time of the alarm of fire until the boat 
went on the beach, he said that it was between two and one- 
half and three minutes. 

COULD NOT HAVE TURNED THE BOAT 

"If that boat had been put in at Locust avenue and One 
Hundred and Twenty-ninth street," said the coroner, 
"wouldn't the wind have held her there the same as if she was 
anchored?" 

"Certainly," said Weaver, "but you couldn't put her there. 
It would have taken three minutes to swing her around in that 
tide and with that wind, and there wouldn't have been a soul 
alive to tell the tale by the time we got there. The wind, 
which was blowing across her quarter, would have been swept 
all over the boat, and every one would have been roasted to 
death before a landing was made." 

"Did you not tell me in the pilot-house on Sunday that you 



254 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

would have beached her at Locust avenue?" asked the coroner 
sharply. 

"I did not," said Weaver decisively. 

"Why was she put ashore at the furthest point of the 
island?" 

"So that the wind would blow the flames away from the 
passengers and give them a clear space to starboard to get 
off." 

"Did you see any of the crew at any time trying to save 
passengers?" 

"Not until after the boat was beached." 

ONE MEMBER OF THE CREW DROWNED 

It also developed during the inquest that the only member 
of the crew drowned was the steward, McGrath, and he had 
jumped overboard after a life preserver had been fastened on 
him by his assistant. Cross-examination brought out the fact 
that the steward !had jumped overboard with a bag of money 
in his hand, and that this was quite heavy. 

It was positively stated by the porter, who had charge of 
the forward cabin, in which the fire started, that two or three 
barrels of glasses, packed in salt hay, were in the cabin when 
the fire broke out. Mr. Garvan stated that this was an infrac- 
tion of the law, which states that loose hay cannot be brought 
aboard of a passenger steamer. 

A CLERGYMAN'S TESTIMONY 

The Rev. George Schulz, pastor of St. Luke's Lutheran 
Church, was the first one of the survivors to tell the story of 
the disaster. 

"The first I saw of any fire," said Mr. Schulz, "was when 
smoke came out of the cabin below the main deck. The chil- 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 255 

dren were playing with bean bags and one thing or another, 
and were so taken up with their games that they did not 
know of any danger until the flames came up the stairway. 
Pastor Haas's wife, who was near me, was very much excited. 
Twent to the side of the ship, and saw smoke rolling up in 
great volume. Then every one became excited and the panic 
started. 

"My first real apprehension of danger came when I saw 
one of the crew and some passengers jumping into the water. 
I tried to stop the children 'near me from climbing over the 
guardrail, as I saw some tugs near us and thought they would 
get close enough to take us off. As soon as a tug ran along- 
side I threw some of the children into it and then jumped 
myself." 

"Did you try to use a life preserver?" asked Mr. Garvan. 

"Yes, I pulled one down and held it by the strap. The 
weight of the preserver broke the strap, and I knew the thing 
was no good and threw it away." 

"Did you see any of the other passengers getting life 
preservers?" 

"There were only women on the lower deck, and they 
could not reach the racks." 

"How long was it from the time you saw the flames until 
the boat ran on the beach?" 

"A very short time." 

ENGINEER KNEW OP NO FIRE DRILLS 

Benjamin F. Conkling of Catskill, the chief engineer of the 
boat, said he had been with the Slocum since she was 
launched, in i8qi. He had never heard of any regulations 
that steam pipes should lead from the boiler to the various 



256 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

hold compartments. He told of the location of the various 
pumps and standpipes. 

Conkling said he went about the boat with the inspector 
when the latter came on board on May 5th. He said that no 
test was made of the fire hose on any of the standpipes whife 
the inspector was there. 

Conkling denied the testimony already given, that he had 
gotten off the boat without getting his feet wet. He said that 
he did not leave his post as soon as he set the donkey engine 
working, but remained until a rush of passengers carried him 
on to a tug that had come alongside. He said it was about 
ten minutes from the time fire was discovered until the boat 
was beached. Conkling said he had examined the equipment 
on other vessels. 

"How did the equipment on the Slocum compare with 
them?" asked Mr. McManus. "They were as good, if not bet- 
ter, than any I ever saw," said the witness. 

"That isn't very reassuring to the passengers on other river 
boats," put in Mr. Garvan. 

LIFE PRESERVERS FULL OF HOLES 

William W. Trembley, a deckhand, testified that he had 
tried to help others of the crew with the fire hose, but that it 
had been blown from the standpipe as soon as the water was 
turned on. He said it was less than ten minutes from the 
time he saw the fire until the boat went aground. 

From questions put to him by jurors it was "learned from 
Trembley that he had seen life preservers with holes in them 
on the day of the disaster. He noticed this, he said, when he 
went to pull them down. Several days before, he said, he had 
told the mate that some of the life preservers were torn and 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 257 

that the cork was leaking out of them. These were taken 
down and were not replaced with others. He said it was his 
opinion that the rust from the wires holding the preservers in 
place had rotted the coverings. 

FINE START FOR THE FIRE 

Through Walter Payne, the negro porter on the Slocum, it 
was established that two barrels of salt hay were in the for- 
ward cabin where the fire started, and that there also were 
one barrel of machine oil, one barrel of cylinder oil, one barrel 
of mineral sperm oil, several bags of charcoal, lumber, mops, 
brooms, and a lot of old canvas. Payne said he tried to help 
the crew unwind the hose after the fire was discovered, but 
that it broke away from the standpipe. 

Thomas Ryan, who was a waiter on board the Slocum, said 
he pulled down a lot of life preservers and threw them to the 
crowd. Then he grabbed one and ran down with it to the 
steward. He strapped it on him, he said, and the steward 
jumped overboard. 

"And was drowned, wasn't he?" asked Mr. Garvan. 

"Yes, he was," replied Ryan. "But he carried a heavy bag 
of money in his hand when he jumped off." 

ONE GOOD LIFE PRESERVER 

Mary Behrends, whose hands were swathed in bandages as 
the result of burns she had received, testified that the boat 
had just passed Blackwell's Island when she heard the cry of 
fire. Two of her daughters were lost, Mrs. Behrends said, as 
she burst into tears. When she had been quieted she said 
that her third daughter had been brought ashore on North 
Brother Island with a life preserver on that had kept her 



258 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

afloat. This was the first instance of the kind that had come 
out at the inquest. 

WATER COVERED WITH POWDERED CORK 

Several witnesses were called and testified that the water 
about North Brother Island, where the General Slocum went 
ashore, was covered with powdered cork from the vessel's life 
preservers, while the hair of survivors and victims was full of 
the same substance. Some exciting stories of rescue and self- 
sicrifice were related by other witnesses. The heroic work of 
Miss McGibbon, the hospital clerk and telephone operator at 
North Brother Island; of sixteen-year-old Mary McCann, and 
of John L. Wade, the owner of the tug J. W. Wade, will stand 
out as bright spots in the history of the horror. 

These persons gave their testimony modestly. Wade's 
statements were as vigorous as was his work on the fateful 
day of the disaster. The two girls could only be persuaded 
to tell what they did by the insistent questioning of the dis- 
trict attorney. 

COULD NOT GET LIFE BELTS 

By the testirnony of these and other witnesses it was 
learned that shortly after the Slocum was beached on North 
Brother Island the waters thereabout were covered with a 
coating of finely granulated cork that had leaked from the 
torn life preservers of the ship, and a number of 'persons were 
dragged ashore dead with life preservers strapped to their 
bodies. 

• One survivor showed his badly lacerated hands to prove 
that it had been impossible to tear down the wires which held 
the life preservers in the racks, and he said that when he 
finally managed to get several of the belts out of the racks 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 259 

they tore to pieces in his hands. A woman who survived the 
disaster said she was nearly blinded by the shower of cork 
that fell in her face when she tried to pull some of the life 
preservers out of the racks above her head. 

THE CAPTAIN IS BROUGHT INTO COURT 

A dramatic incident of one of the early sessions occurred 
when aged Captain Van Schaick was brought into the coroner's 
court on a stretcher. The hearing was suspended while the 
coroner and Mr. Garvan went to the rear room and talked 
with the captain and the doctors, who came with him. A 
moment later the procession formed again and the captain 
was borne to the ambulance, which took him to the Lebanon 
Hospital, where he has lain since the disaster. 

THE CAPTAIN'S JUDGMENT QUESTIONED 

An effort was made to question the judgment of the cap- 
tain in beaching the vessel on North Brother Island, but met 
with only partial success. Of the three witnesses questioned 
on this subject, two were policemen, who saw the vessel afire 
from the shore, and thought the captain could have put in at 
One Hundred and Twenty-ninth street. They admitted, on 
cross-examination, that neither knew anything of navigation 
nor of the conditions of wind or tide, nor of the difficulty that 
might be experienced in turning around a boat like the Slocum. 
The other witness was Captain Van Gelder of the New York, 
New Haven and Hartford tug service, and while he held a 
similar opinion, he said he did not believe that Captain Van 
Schaick had done wrong, but that in the excitement of the 
moment he had lost his head. 



26o NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
HELP FROM THE ISLAND 

The testimony also established, incidentally, the excellent 
fire service on North Brother Island. When the Slocum was 
still a mile away the alarm had been rung on the island, every 
man was at his post, and the fire-fighting force followed the 
course of the boat around the point of the island, dragging its 
hose reels, ready to get into action as soon as the boat came 
close enough to shore. While it was too late to turn water on 
the blazing ship, it was doubtless due to the work done by the 
employees that many lives were saved. 

ONE OF THE HEROINES TELLS HER STORY 

Lulu McGibbon, one of the heroines of the disaster, saw 
the blazing vessel coming up the river between Sunken 
Meadow and Ward's Island. After informing the chief engi- 
neer, she rang up every hospital in Manhattan and notified 
police and fire headquarters that the Slocum, afire and loaded 
with excursionists, was making for the beach on North 
Brother Island. 

Then she ran out to the point and saw the boat go aground 
on the bar. In a minute, she said, the water was full of strug- 
gling women and children, and Miss McGibbon, without a 
moment's hesitation, ran down the beach until the water 
reached her waist and began pulling some of the children 
ashore. 

Miss McGibbon said she saw one dead man come ashore 
with a life preserver on, and not long after the vessel grounded 
the water was full of particles of cork. All the persons 
brought ashore for some time afterward had their hair and 
clothes filled with this powdered stuff. 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 261 

BRAVE MARY M'CANN 

Mary McCann said she was in the convalescent ward when 
the disaster occurred. She heard the fire alarm sounded, and 
looking out of the window, saw the boat coming up the river 
with flames bursting from the decks. She said: 

"I saw that she was crowded with people and that some of 
them, women and little children, were jumping into the water 
as she came on toward the island. A minute later she had 
gone on the beach and people were jumping into the water 
from all sides. The water was filled with them. 

"Then the top deck fell in and a lot more were thrown into 
the water. I ran down to the beach and waded out into the 
water. I didn't go far at first, because I got hold of a little 
baby and when I saw it was alive I put it up on the beach, 
where some one took care of it and bundled it up in blankets. 
Then I went out a little further, and got hold of a little boy. 
I pulled him up to where he could wade ashore and he begged 
me to go out and get his brother. I went out again, that time 
nearly up to my neck, and grabbed hold of another boy — I 
don't know if it was the little fellow's brother or not — and I 
got him into shallow water. 

SAW CORK ON THE WATER 

'Then I went out several times more, and the last time 
some one grabbed me by the legs and I had to call for help to 
get back. One of the men on the island got me in then, and 
I was nearly exhausted. 

'T wasn't afraid," she said with a flash of pride as she fin- 
ished her narrative, "because I can swim." 

"Did you see any cork in the water?" asked Mr. Garvan. 

"Yes, lots of it. It seemed to leak out of the torn life pre- 



262 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

servers. First I thought it was sawdust, and when I got 
ashore and got it out of my hair I found out it was cork." 

John L. Wade told his story in forcible Anglo-Saxon, so 
clear and concise that the picture was before the eyes of his 
hearers. He said: 

THE WADE'S RESCUE WORK 

"I was lying at the dock at North Brother Island getting 
water when I saw the Slocum coming up the river. She was 
just above the Meadows, and fire was coming from her port 
side forward. I cut loose and cast the hose off, and made for 
the Slocum as quick as the Lord would let me. 

"When I got near her I told my men to put over our life- 
boat and throw out life belts to the people struggling in the 
water. Just as the Slocum went on the beach I went on with 
her. You see my boat only draws four feet of water, and I 
could get in close. I went right up under her stern and tried 
to run under her starboard wheelhouse. 

"I had seven men aboard and they didn't lose any time 
pulling the people in. I told them never to mind the dead — 
we'd attend to them afterward. I wanted to get the ones that 
were alive first. 

THE LAST TO LEAVE THE BOAT 

"I want to say this, that two men who were in the wheel- 
house (I suppose it was the captain or the pilot and the man 
at the engines) must have been the last to leave. They stuck 
till it was no use to stick any longer. I saw one of the pilots 
cross himself and jump overboard. The other one jumped, 
too. I said to my men, 'Boys, the engineer's a goner!' I saw 
him fill and back that boat clear up on the beach, so I knew 
some one must be in the engine-room, and I never thought he 
could get out then. 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 263 

"Yes, some of the Slocum's men helped me after they got 
aboard, but I put that fellow Flanagan ashore. He nearly got 
me into serious trouble. He cast a line off — afraid, I guess, 
that my boat would catch fire and that he was risking his skin 
again. When he cast off a line I went for him, and — well, I 
just put him off the boat, that's all." 

DID THE BEST THING 

'What do you think of the captain's action in beaching the 
boat where he did?" asked Mr. Garvan. 

"He couldn't have done any better," was the immediate 
response. "He beached her in the shallowest part. He was 
all right, that fellow was." 

Edward Van Wart, the first pilot of the Slocum, whose 
spine was so badly hurt that he had difficulty in sitting up in 
the witness chair, testified that every year, except this one, 
since 1891, he had charge of getting out the life preservers on 
the vessel. He said that several years after she was launched 
250 new preservers were put aboard. There were no new 
ones put on board since, he said. 

PILOT STUCK TO HIS POST 

Van Wart, who has been a pilot for thirty years, said the 
captain left the pilot-house and came back an instant later 
telling the pilots to beach the boat on North Brother Island. 
He said he held the course of the boat all the way and jumped 
from the hurricane deck into shallow water after the boat had 
been beached. 

He rang a jingle bell for full speed when he made for the 
island, and when near the beach rang a bell to slow up and 
another to stop. The boat grounded easily, without any jar. 
All the signals were answered from the engine-room. 



264 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

THE HULK INSPECTED 

The last day of the inquest was devoted to an inspection of 
the hulk of the burned steamer in Erie Basin, where the wreck 
had been towed. Coroner Berry assembled the jury about an 
opening on the deck, down which there had formerly been 
stairs. On one side were piled musty life preservers with 
long rents, through which granulated cork had escaped, bar- 
rels, boxes of bottles, casks and rubbish of all kinds, including 
some soft meadow hay, such as is used for packing glasses. 

WHERE THE FIRE ORIGINATED 

Thomas F. Freel, former fire marshal, said he had made 
an examination of the hull after it had been raised and had 
found forward the debris that now littered that portion of the 
deck. 

"Where did the fire originate?" inquired the coroner. 

"Inside of this barrel," replied Mr. Freel, indicating one by 
his side. 

It had contained hay, he said, and the evidence was clear 
that the flames had started inside and burned upward. The 
boards were charred from within. Some of the staves had been 
burned right through and had evidently fallen blazing upon 
hay scattered on the floor. From that point the fire had leaped 
to the stairs and had done more damage to the upper portion 
of the cabin than it had to the material piled around the barrel. 

Under cross-examination Mr. Freel said the boat had been 
under water for eight days before he made his examination, 
and he could not tell what had drifted into the cabin. 

PILOT UPHOLDS CAPTAIN 

On the return of the jury up the river Captain Edward 
Van Wart, first pilot on the Slocum, took the wheel of the 



THE CORONER'S INQUEST 265 

Patrol, going over as nearly as possible the same course that 
he had taken on the day of the disaster. He thought the 
Slocum was then going at approximately the same speed that 
the Patrol had reached at that point. He insisted that, to his 
mind, Captain Van Schaick had adopted the best possible 
course in running the Slocum as close as possible to the North 
Brother Island dock and then beaching her just beyond, on 
the northwest side of the island. 

Many of the jurors present did not hesitate to express the 
opinion that a grave mistake in judgment had been made by 
Captain Van Schaick in not beaching the boat on the New 
York shore at some point between the entrance to the Great 
Kill and the south shore of North Brother Island. 

THE GUILTY ONES 

After nearly four hours' deliberation, the jury declared that 
the following men were guilty of negligence or cowardice, and 
demanded that they be held on the charge of manslaughter in 
the second degree: Frank A. Barnaby, president Knicker- 
bocker Steamship Co.; James K. Atkinson, secretary; Charles 
E. Hill, director; C. De Lacy Evans, director; Robert K. 
Story, director; Floyd S. Corbin, director; Frank O. Dexter, 
director; William H. Van Schaick, captain of the Slocum; 
John A. Pease, commodore of the Knickerbocker fleet; Edward 
Flanagan, mate of the Slocum; Henry Lundberg. U. S. 
inspector of hulls. 

HELD TO THE GRAND JURY 

These men were accordingly held to the federal grand jury 
and a special session was called to consider the case under 
Section 5344 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, 
which reads: 



266 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

"Every captain, engineer, pilot or other person employed 
on any steamboat or vessel by whose misconduct, negligence 
or inattention to his duties on such vessel the life of any per- 
son is destroyed, and every owner, inspector or other public 
officer through whose fault, connivance, misconduct or viola- 
tion of law the life of any person is destroyed, shall be deemed 
guilty of manslaughter and, upon conviction thereof before 
any Circuit Court of the United States, shall be sentenced to 
confinement at hard labor for a period of not more than ten 
years." 



CHAPTER XXII 
LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 

DEAD 
A 

ABENDSCHEIN, MARY, 26 years old, No. 325 Eiast Eighteenth 
street, identified by brother, George, at the Morgue. 

ALBRECHT, SELMA, No. 212 East Tenth street, identified by hus- 
band at the Morgue. 

ANSELL, MRS. LOUISA, 28, No. 103 East Fourth street; identi- 
fied by her husband, Eugene. 

ANSELL, MRS. CATHERINE, No. 105 East Fourth street; died 
in Harlem Hospital. 
Their two children are still missing. 

ANSELL, ALFRED (3), No. 103 East Fourth street. 

ALFELD, ANNA, 45 years, No. 339 Sixth street, identified by hus- 
band, Carl Alfeld. 

ALLMAN, LENA, 39 years old. No. 409 Fifth street; identified by 
Patrolman Hines, a brother-in-law. 

ARNBRUST, MRS. BARBARA, 46 years old. No. 166 East Fourth 
street; identified by husband. 

AUGUR, ROSE (19), No. 1365 Third avenue, identified by her 
father, George. 

ANGER, CHARLES A. (52), No. 357 East Sixty-second street. 

ANGER, MINNIE (24), No. 357 East Sixty-second street. 

ACKERMAN, , 16 months. No. 406 East Fifth street. 

ALFOLD, TILLIE, 16 years old, 339 Sixth street. 

B 

BELUNKEN, ANNE (13), No. 344 East Forty-eighth street, iden- 
tified by Herman, the father. 

267 



268 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

BALLMER, MARY, 35 years old, No. 123 First avenue; identified by 
her husband, Joseph. 

BALLMER, , girl, six years old, identified by her father, 

Joseph. 

BRUNNING, J. L. ; address, Produce Exchange. 

BAURILE, MARGUERETTA (35), No. 433 Sixth street; identified 
by her husband, Frederick. 

BRENNING, ANNIE(43), No. 215 East Twelfth street; identified 
by brother John. 

BURNS, FRED (10), No. 22 St. Mark's place. 

BURNS, HENRY (6), No. 22 St. Mark's place. 

BOLLAN, REBECCA, 53 years old, No. 334 Sixth street. 

BRUNING, GRACE, 14 years old. No-. 215 East Twelfth street. 

BRUNING, MAGDALEN, 11 years old. No. 215 East Twelfth street. 

BOEMLER, MRS. MARTHA, No. 423 East Eighty-sixth street. 

-BUFFO, MRS. LOUISA, No. 82 West Ninetieth street. 

BLOHM, MRS. ANNA, 50 years old, No. 18 Jackson street. 

BLOHM, MARGARET, 19 years old, No. 18 Jackson street. 

BLOHM, DORA (15), No. 18 Jackson street, identified by brother. 

BALSER, CATHERINE A. (^2), No 137 Avenue B; identified 
at the Morgue by Gus Balser, same address. 

BECK, CHRISTINA (50), No. 319 Avenue A; identified at Morgue 
by son. 

BERRENS, AUGUSTA (5), No. 127 Goerck street; identified by 
sister Annie.- 

BERG, MRS. LENA (46), No. 158 Goerck street; identified by hus- 
band at Morgue. 

BIRMINGHAM, KATHERINE (72), No. 79 Mangin street; iden- 
tified by brother, Michael Dillon, at Morgue. 

BOZEUBARR, EMILY (38), No. no First avenue, identified by 
brother, Bernard, at Morgue. 

BROWN, ALFONSO, No. 203 Fifth street, identified by James Roth, 
of same address, at Morgue. 

BUCHEIDT, MRS. ANN ELIZA (69), No. 141 East Third street; 
identified by son-in-law, Jacob Schwartz, at the Morgue. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 269 

BURFIEND, JOHN J., ten months old, No. lOi West One Hundred 
and Sixth street, identified by father, J. H. K. Biirfiend, at the Alex- 
ander Avenue Station. 

BANDELOW, LOUISA, 29 years old, 84 East Ninth street. 

BENEKE, MARY, 30 years eld, 420 East Seventeenth street. 

BERTRAND, LIZZIE, 45 years old, 730 Sixth street. 

BREUM, EMMA, 29 jxars old, 41 1 East Twenty-seventh street. 

BETZER, AMELIA, 46 years old, 422 Sixth street. 

BLUMENKRANZ, ANNIE, 20 years old, 9 East One Hundred and 
Sixth street. 

BLUSCH, KATHERINE, 25 years old, 41 Avenue A. 

BOEGER, FLORENCE, 3 years old, No. 910 Putnam avenue, Brook- 
lyn ; identified by father, William, at Alexander Avenue Station. 

BOEGER, SUSAN L., ^^'^^ years old, 910 Putnam avenue, Brooklyn. 

BOEGER, WTLBUR, 5 years old, 910 Putnam avenue, Brooklyn. 

BOEGER, PHILLIP, 9 years old, 910 Putnam avenue, Brooklyn. 

BOLLMER, ADELINE, 7 years old, 123 First avenue. 

BOSE, AMELIA, 19 years old, 138 Avenue A. 

BROWNING, MAGDALENE, 11 years old, 215 East Twelfth street. 

BURKHARDT, MARY, 4 years old, 43 Tompkins street. 

BURKHARDT, ALBERTINA, 39 years old, 43 Tompkins street. 

BURFEIND, DORA, 6 months old, 245 West Twenty-seventh street. 

BURFEIND, MARGARET, 2 years old, 245 West Twenty-seventh 
street. 

BUSH, HILDA, 1 1 years old, 82 West Ninetieth street. 

BECKER, THEODORE FRANK, 34 years old, No. loio East One 
Hundred and Seventy-eighth street; identified by father, Frank 
Becker. His wife. May, missing. 

BECKMANN, ANNA MARGARETHA, 7 months old, No. 1894 
Third avenue ; identified by Arthur Beckmann, her father. 

BERNHORDI, ANNIE, 5 years old, No. 614 East Ninth street; 
identified by her aunt, Mrs. Frances Bernardi, of No. 403 East Nine- 
tieth street. 

BREHER, KATE (11), No. 310 East Twenty-eighth street; identified 
by her father, John Breher. 



270 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

BRIEDE, MAMIE, No. 90 Avenue A. 

BAUMAN, MAGADINE (30), No. 526 Sixth street. 

BRAUN, MOLLIE, 32 years old, No. 233 Fifth street. 

BRETZ, MARjY (28), and child, No. 304 East Twenty-eighth street. 

BRETZ, ELZIE, seven months old, 304 East Twenty-eig-hth street. 

BANDELOW, LOUISA (5), No. 84 East Seventh street. 



CLOW, MARY, 35 years old, No. 54 East Seventh street, identified 

by husband, Alfred, at Alexander Avenue Station. 
CORDES, MRS. METTA (51), No. 417 East Sixteenth street; 

identified by son John at Alexander Avenue Station. 
CORDES, FRED (14), No. 417 East Sixteenth street; identified by 

brother John. 
CROFINE, MRS. LILLIE, No. 995 Avenue A. 
CHARLOTTE, MAY, 51 years old, No. 599 East Sixteenth street. 
COHRS, MRS. KATIE {2-]), No. 70 First avenue. 
COHRS, FRIEDA (26), No. 106 Avenue A; identified by brother 

Henry. 
COHRS, FREDA (6), No. 70 First avenue. 

D 

DENGLED, ADOLPH, JR., 3 years old, No. 123 Seventh street; 

identified by father, Adolph, at Alexander Avenue Station. 
DEPPERT, AGNES (62), No. 328 Sixth street; identified by 

neighbor at Alexander Avenue Station. 
DEPPERT, MARY, 28 years old, 328 East Sixth street. 
DERKER, THEODORE, 3 years oW, No. loio East One Hundred 

and Seventy-eighth street; identified by father, Frank, at the 

Morgue. 
DONHEIM, MRS., No. 41 Third street; identified at the Morgue. 
DIEHL, CATHERINE, 58 years old. No. 886 Cortlandt avenue; 

body at Alexander Avenue Station. 
DIEHL, ELSIE, 7 years old, No. 209 Fifth street. 
DIEHL, LIZZIE, 30 years old, No. 905 Fifth street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 271 

DREWS, MRS. CATHERINE (68), No 154 East Fourth street; 

identified by son Herbert at Morgue. 
DREWS, HARRY, 7 years old. No. 154 East Fourth street. 
DREWS, LILLIE, 2 years old. No. 154 East Fourth street. 
DE LUCCIA, NICHOLAS, 2 years old. No. 54 East Seventh street. 
DONHEIM, MRS., No. 41 Third street; body at Bellevue. 
DORRHOFFER, two children, No. 121 Avenue A. 
DORRHOFFER, FREDERICK (11), No. 121 Avenue A. 
DERSCH, HELEN (41), No. 76 First avenue. 
DEISSMAN, LENA (16), No. 114 East Fourth street. 
DUICK, MARY (16), No. 121 Fourth avenue, Brooklyn. 
DIECKHOFF, JOHN, 20 years old. No. 124 Fourth avenue, 

Brooklyn. 
DIECKHOFF, WILLIAM, 4 years old. No. 124 Fourth avenue, 

identified by father, Fred Dieckhoff. 
DIECKHOFF, ANNIE, 17 years old. No. 124 Fourth avenue, 

Brooklyn; identified by Frederick Dieckhoff, her father. 
DREHEK, KATIE, 11 years old. No. 310 East Twenty-fifth street; 

identified by her father, John Dreher. 
DREHER, CONRAD, 4 years old, No. 310 East Twenty-fifth street. 
DRECIVES, CATHARINE (68), No. 54 Fourth street; identified 

by son Herman. 
DERSCH, ELSIE, 15 years old, No. 71 First avenue. 
DOERING, IDA, 11 years old. No. 12 State street. 
DL\MOND, FRANCIS, 4 years old, No. 79 Mangin street. 

E 

EHRHARD, MINNIE, 13 years old, No. 69 First avenue; identified 
by her mother, Mrs. Minnie Ehrhard. 

EHRHARDT, ELIZABETH, 2 years old, No. 151 North Fourth 
street, Brooklyn. 

EICHOFF, WILLIAM, 30 years old. No. 196 Second avenue; iden- 
tified by George Bates, of the same address, at the Morgue. 

EIDMAN, GRACE, 6 years. No. 100 East Fourth street; identified 
by brother, Henry Eidman. 



272 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

EIMER, CHARLES, 13 years old, 84 Stockholm street, Brooklyn. 

ELK, ADALINE (23), No. 306 East Sixth street. 

ELK, FRANCIS, 2 years old, 215 Sixth street. 

ELK, FRANCES (3), No. 306 Sixth street. 

ELLER, MRS. JOSEPH, No. 219 East Thirteenth street. 

ELLER, ELSIE, No. 219 East Thirteenth street. 

ENGELMAN, MRS. LOUISE, 28 years old, of No. 425 East 

Twelfth street; identified by husband at Morgue. 
ENGELMAN, WILLIAM, 6 years old. No. 425 East Twelfth street. 
ERTMANN, ALMA, 11 years old, No. 346 East Ninth street. 
EYSEL, JENNIE, 9 years old, No. 203 Avenue A; identified by 

Nicholas Stocker, No. 203 Avenue A. 



FRESE, ANNA (20), No. 426 East Fifteenth street. 
FALMETER, LIZZIE, 40 years old. No. 80 East First street. 
FRITZ, MRS. ALMA, 47 years old. No. 1235 Park avenue; wife of 

George Fritz, collector for Lippmann's brewery; identified at the 

Morgue. 
FRECH, CHARLES E., 4 years old. No. 409 East Fifty-fourth 

street; identified by his father, Henry Freeh. 
FROLICH, MRS. CHARLES, address unknown. 
FOLLMER, MRS. MARY, No. 123 First avenue. 
FLEISCHER, HENRY, 14 years old. No. 332 East Thirteenth 

street. 
FICKBOHM, MRS. MARIE, 40 years old, No. 91 Avenue D; iden- 
tified by her husband, Peter J. Fickbohm. 
FICKBOHM, MAMIE, 40 years old. No. 41 Avenue D; identified 

by husband, John. 
FELDHAUSER. MRS. MARGARET, 52 years old. No. 50 West 

Eighth street; identified by Courtland T. Myburg, No. 35 West 

Eighth street. 
FICKBOHM, MARIE, 14 months old, No. 41 Avenue D; identified 

by her uncle. Henry Paulsen, No. 66 Cumberland street, Brooklyn. 




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INSPECTOR LUNDBERG ON THE WITNESS-STAND 

Henry Lundberg, inspector of hulls in the Steamboat Inspection Service instead 
of giving the assistance expected of him at the inquest, refused to answer kll ques- 
tions of importance on the ground that they might incrim.inate him. 



i 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 273 

FELDHUSEN, MARGARET, 52 years old, No. 50 West Eighth 
street; identified by husband. 

FOLKE, ANNA (50), No. 257 Avenue B. 

FOLKE, DORA (79), No. 257 Avenue B. 

FOELSING, FERDINAND (8), No. 1914 Third avenue; identi- 
fied by father. Brother and sister missing, 
j FROELICH, CHARLES, No. 301 West Ninety-sixth street. 
'fETTIG, PETER, 45 years old, 120 Second avenue, Brooklyn. 

FISHER EMMA, 35 years old. No. 108 First avenue. 

FISHLER, ANNA, 6 years old, No. 314 East Ninth street. 

G 

GAMBERG, HENRY (6), No. 427 East Ninth street; identified 
by father, Henry. 

GUSTENBERGER, JAMES (25), No. 147 West Thirty-seventh 
street; identified by C. H. Knapp. 

GADE, GRACE, 61 years old, No. 405 Fifth street; identified by 
husband. 

GADE, GRACE, 16 years old. No. 405 Fifth street; identified by 
brother Henry, at the Morgue. 

GRAFF, MRS. ELSIA, 40 years old. No. 134 East Seventh street; 
identified by her brother, Frank Frederich. 

GALLAGHER, AGNES, 10 months old, No. 45 East Fifteenth 
street; identified by uncle, Jacob Ottinger, No. 280 Avenue B, at 
the Alexander Avenue Station. 

GIESER, KATE, 25 years old, no address given; identified by hus- 
band, Flenry, collector for Lippmann's Brewery, at Alexander 
Avenue Station. 

GATES, MARGARET, 2^ years old No. 80 First avenue; identi- 
fied by father, Edward. 

GATES, CATHERINE, 28 years old, No. 80 First avenue; identi- 
fied by husband, Edward. 

GIRRCLER, EDITH, 18 years old, No. 20 Avenue A. 

GRIMM, MRS. SELMA,'34 years old. No 314 East Ninth street; 
identified by her husband, Frederick. 



274 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

GREUBEN, EMMA, 39 years old, No. 420 East Seventeenth street, 
identified by John L. Distler, nephew. 

GOETZ, ALBERT, 25 years old, No 80 First avenue; identified by 
Edward Goetz, at Morgue. 

GOETZ, CATHERINE, 28 years old, No. 81 First avenue; identi- 
fied by husband, Edward, at the Morgue. 

GRAFING, LILLIE. 28 years old. No. 998 Avenue A; identified 
by father at the ]\'Iorgue. 

GRUBER, CARRIE, 14 years old, No. 420 East Seventeenth street. 

GRENER, KATIE, 11 years old, No. 310 East Twenty-fifth street. 

GRANNER, MISS LOUISE, 22 years, No. 100 University place. 

GRANEFIRE, LILLIAN, No. 998 Avenue A. 

GEISELER, EDITH, 18 years old, No. 201 Avenue A; identified by 
her brother, William Geiseler. 

GEISELER, PETER, 18 years old, No. 201 Avenue D. 

GERMULLER, WILLIAM (5). No. 895 Jefferson place. 

GERMULLER, GRACE (3), No. 895 Jefferson place. 

GROSS, EMMA, 44, No. 90 First avenue. 

GASSMAN, MICHAEL J., 5 years old, No. 128 Fourth street. 

GASSMAN, FRED (11), 128 East Fourth street. 

GASSMAN, MINNIE, 5 years old, No. 128 East Fourth street. 

GREWES, LILLIAN, 2 years old, 54 East Fourth street. 

GALEWSKI, HELEN, 5 years old. No. 54 Seventh street. 

GREFF, OTTO, 43 years old, No. 143 Seventh street. 

GOSS, GERTRUDE, 27 years old, No 97 East Seventh street. 

GEISEL, EMMA. 15 years old, 107 East Second street. 

GERSTEN, RICHARD, 38 years old, 147 West Thirty-fourth 
street. 

GRESS, CLARA, 12 years old. No. 144 Seventh street. 

GREBER, FRED (14), No. 54 Seventh street. 

GRUNING, MRS. LENA (29), No. 45 Seventh street. 

GRUNING, HENRY (5), No. 45 Seventh street. 

GRUNING, CHARLES (3), No. 45 Seventh street. 

GRUNING, LENA, 10 months old, No. 45 Seventh street. 

GELUECIN, (7), No. 54 East Seventh street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 275 

GALLAGHER, VERONICA (32), No. 324 East Fifteenth street. 
GALLAGHER, WALTER (9), No. 324 East Fifteenth street. 
GIVENS, MARGARET, No. 225 East Fifth street. 
GETTLER, CAROLINE (65)_, No. 231 Fifth street. 
GROSS, EMMA, 44 years old, No. 90 First avenue. 
GROSS, OTTO, 43 years old. No. 134 Seventh street. 
GILLIS, GEORGE (12), No. 512 East Fifth street. 

H 

HANZLER, AUGUSTA (11), No. 154 First avenue. 

HARDTMAN, MARGARET, No. 309 East Tenth street. 

HEWKEN, CHARLES (18), No. 169 South Second street, 
Brooklyn. 

HOAG, SUSIE (48), No. 158 First avenue. 

HEIN, FRANK (12), No. 397 East Fourth street. 

HAWKINS, Charles (18), No. 169 South Second street, Brooklyn. 

HERNBERG, GEORGE (7), No. 79 Colyer street, Brooklyn. 

HERNBERG, ARTHUR (9), No. 79 Colyer street, Brooklyn. 

HAUSLER, AUGUSTA (11), No. 154 First avenue. 

HECKER, JULIA, 8 months old. No. 88 Avenue A. 

HARDEKOPF, (40), No. 343 Rivington street. 

HEERZ, MRS. M. (32), No. 412 Sixth street; identified by hus- 
band, George. 

HEDENKAMP, JOHN D„ 55 years old, No 805 Sixth street; iden- 
tified by his son, Henry Hendenkamp. 

HEDENKAMP, MARGARET S., 1 1 years old, No. 805 East Sixth 
street ; identified by her brother, Henry Hedenkamp. 

HEIDENKAMP, JAMES ; identified by letter on body. 

HESSEL, WILHELMINA (53), No 801 East One Hundred and 
Forty-seventh street. 

HECKERT, ANNIE K. (11), No. 88 Avenue A. 

HERMAN, GEORGE, 13 months old. No. 410 Fifth street; identi- 
fied by his father, Henry Herman. 

HENDERSEN, BARBARA (30), No. 386 West One Hundred 



276 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

and Twenty-fifth street; identified by Miss Pauline Steiger (ques- 
tionable). 

HOELDER, MARY (79), No. 169 Avenue A; identified by daugh- 
ter-in-law, 

HEHL, GUS (14), No. 55 First avenue; identified by father at the 
Morgue. 

HOLLER, MRS. BARBARA, No. 334 Sixth street. 

HBRGENBERGER, MRS. (45), No. 22 St. Mark's place. 

HERTZ, MRS. MARY {(i^), No. 611 Columbus avenue; identified 
by daughter, Mrs. Louise Buffe, No. 82 West Ninetieth street, at 
the Alexander Avenue Station. 

HOFFMAN, MRS. ELIZABETH; identified by letter on body at 
Morgue. Address not given. 

HOFFMAN, MRS. SYLVA (53), No. 'J2 Second street; identified 
by son Frank at the Morgue. 

HELLER, CHRISTINA, 68 years old, No. 404 Sixth street; identi- 
fied by her son, William Heller. No 29 Louis place, Brooklyn. 
Was sexton of St. Mark's. 

HEIM, FRANK, 13 years old. No. 397 East Fourth street; identi- 
fied by Frederick Heim, his brother. 

HERRMAN, MRS. KATE (50), No. 168 First avenue; identified by 
her son, Henry Herrman, No. 410 East Fifth street. 

HEIMS, HENRIETTA, 10 years old, No 300 Front street; iden- 
tified by her father, Henry Heims. 

HARTUNG, ESSIE, 6 years old. No. 342 East Twenty-first street; 
identified by brother Frank. 

HARDINCAMP, MARGARET, 11 years old. No. 12 East Eleventh 
street ; identified by her brother Henr>' at the Morgue. 

HORW^\Y, CARL (17), No. 313 East Ninth street. 

HORWAY, CORTLANDT {2^), No. 313 East Ninth street; iden- 
tified by mother. 

HORWAY, JOHANNA (38),No. 313 East Ninth street; identified 
by brother, William Beck, at the Morgue. 

HORWAY, BELLA, 5 years old. No. 313 East Ninth street; iden- 
tified by father, Charles Horway. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 277 

HEHL, GUS (41), No. 55 First avenue; identified by father, 

Thomas. 
HAAS, ANNIE (45), No. 64 Seventh street, wife of the pastor; 

identified by the Rev. J. G. Schultz. 
HAAS, MARGARET (5), ° No. 64 Seventh street, daughter of 

the pastor; identified by her uncle. 
ITARTMANN, MARY (46), No. 309 East Tenth street. 
HEINS, MRS. ANNIE, No. 49 Ninth avenue. 
HEINS, FRANK (13), No. 397 East Fourth street. 
HEINS, MARGUERITA, 14 years old. No. 300 Front street. 
HAAG, WILLIAM (14), No. 310 East F'ourteenth street. 
HARNES, HERMAN, 17 years old. No. 312 East Fourteenth 

street. 
HARTUNG, LOUISA (47), No. 342 East Twenty-first street. 
HEDENKAMP, FRANK, 9 years old. No 805 Sixth street. 
HEILSHORN, GEORGE, 3 years old No. 181 Waverly place. 
HENRICH, AMELIA, 18 years old, 316 Brook avenue, The Bronx: 
HENRICK, TESSIE, 16 years old, No. 416 Brook avenue. The 

Bronx. 
HEUER, MARY, 17 years old, No. 127 Division street. 
HOFFMAN, ELLA, 14 years old, 40 Lafayette place. 
HETTERRICK, MRS. FREDERICK, 30 years old. No. 420 East 

Fifteenth street. 
HILLER, GOTTFRIED, 66 years old, sexton of St. Mark's church. 
HOTZ, MRS. ANNA, 37 years old, No. 319 East Fifth street. 
HOFFMAN, EDNA, 2 years old, No. 116 Lake street, Jersey City. 



IDEN, GRACE (6), No. 100 Fourth street; identified by brother, 

Henry. 
IDEN, HENRIETTA H., q years old, No. 100 East Fourth street. 
IDEN, MINNIE (8), No. 100 East Fourth street. 
IRWIN, FANNIE (25), No. 21 12 Third avenue; Salvation Army 

lassie. 



278 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

K 

KRAFFT, LOUISE, No. 140 East Fourth street. 

KELCH, KATIE (6), No. 800 East Fourteenth street. 

KING, KATHERINE, No. 314 East Forty-sixth street. 

KING, CATHERINE (26), No. 314 East Forty-sixth street. 

KLATHAAR, GEORGE (14), No. 506 East Fifth street. 

KOPF, MRS. LIZZIE (32), No. 337 East Ninth street. 

KOPF, ELLIS, year and a half. No. 337 East Ninth street; identi- 
fied by father, Marin. 

KLEIN, DENNA, 40 years old, No. 31 Avenue A; died at Lincoln 
Hospital. 

KRAMER, MRS. , janitress, No. 70 First avenue. 

KEPPLER, IRENE, 12 years old. First avenue, between Twelfth 
and Thirteenth streets. 

KESSLER, BABBETTE, 45 years old. No. 205 East Seventh 
street. 

KLATBAUER, KATHARINE, 56 years old. No 506 Fifth street. 

KLATTER, KATHERINE, 56 years old. No. 506 Fifth street. 

KOEHLER, HENRY, 40 years old, No. 315 East Thirteenth 
street. 

KOLB, GUSSIE, 22 years old, No. 517 East Fifth street; identified 
by Mrs. Ida Kister, her sister. 

KLATBAUER, GEORGE, 14 years old. No. 506 Fifth street; iden- 
tified by John H. Klatbauer, the father. 

KOLINGER, MRS. EVA; identified by papers and bank books in 
her bustle. 

KOLB, MAGDALINE, 72 years old, No. 743 Summit street; iden- 
tified by soil Albert at the Morgue. 

KLENCK, MINNIE, 19 years old, No. 43S East Sixth street; iden- 
tified by her father, Charles Klenck. 

KLEIN, EMMA, 25 years old, No. 314 Sixth street; identified by 
her husband, Gottlieb Klein. 

KOLIDER, HENRY, 12 years old, No. 315 East Thirteenth street; 
identified by uncle. 

KRAUT WURST, ANNA (13), No. 114 East Fourth street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 279 

KORMAN, MINNIE (23), No. 402 Third aveiiue. 
KARL, BARBARA, 60 years old, No. 314 Sixteenth street. 
KLIEN, JOHN, 17 years old. No. 191 East Third street. 
KEELER, Katherine, 12 years old, 122 East Fourth street. 
KOHLER, MARY, 38 years old, No. 315 E. Twentieth street. 
KOPF, THEODORE. 5 years old, 337 East Ninth street. 
KEISTER, MARGARET, 45 years old, No. 343 Division street. 
KLENCK, WILLIAM F., 21 years old, No. 112 St. Mark's place. 
KREGLER, MARGARET, ^y years old. No. 257 Avenue B. 
KEETENSCH, LIZZIE, 30 years old. No. 420 East Fifteenth 

street. 
KLENCH, WILLIAM F., 2 years old, No. 113 St. Mark's place. 
KOSTER, MARGARET, 46 years old, No. 343 Rivington street. 

L 

LAHN, DORA, 25 years old. No. 1000 Union avenue, Bronx; iden- 
tified by her father, Philip Lahn. 

LURIN, LENA, 17 years old. No. 11 1 East Fourth street. 

LAUSCHE, MORRIS, 60 years old, No. 15 18 Webster avenue. 

LOEFFLER, LOUISE, 9 years old, No. 9 East Third street. 

LOEFFLER, LOUIS, 10 years old. No. 96 East Thirteenth street. 

LINK, LOTTIE (15), No. ^(-y Avenue A. 

LINK, EDDIE (11), No. 76 Avenue A ; identified by father. 

LANN, AMELIA (40), widow; identified by Kate Muller, No. 203 
Avenue C, at the Alexander Avenue Station. 

LUDWIG, GEORGE, 15 years, No, 413 East Seventeenth street. 

LUTJENS, MRS. KATE, No. loi Clymer street, Brooklyn; identi- 
fied by husband, John, at the Morgue. 

LULLMAN, CARRIE, 24 years old. No. 100 University place. 

LOUDEMAN, MRS. JOHN, 45 years old. White Plains, N .Y.; 
identified by James J. Sullivan, of No. 7 Elm street, \A'hite Plains. 

LOEBINGER, HENRY, identified by papers. 

LUBBERT, AUGUST, 12 years old. No. 412 Sixth street; identi- 
fied by August Lubbert, his father. 

LEBUHRL, LIZZIE, 9 years old, No. 23 Avenue B. 



28o NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

LANE, GUSTAV, 17 years old, No. 227 East Eleventh street, Man- 
hattan. 

LAMjM, LILLIAN, 7 years old, No. 645 East Seventeenth street. 

LANG, AMELIA, 15 years old, 154 East Broadway. 

LUTTGENS, MARGARET, 18 years old. No. loi Clymer street, 
Brooklyn. 

LAHN, CLARA, 20 years old. No. 1000 Union avenue, Bronx. 

M 

MESCKE, MRS. CARL, No. 508 Robbins avenue. 

MELBOURNE, WILLIAM, No. 441 West Forty-sixth street. 

MEYER, KATE or ELIZABETH (40), No. 88 Avenue A. 

MAY, CHARLOTTE (51), No. 599 East Sixteenth street; identi- 
fied by son Charles at the Morgue. 

MEHLEIN, MRS. MINNIE (38), No. 416 Fifth street; identified 
by husband, Otto, at the Morgue. 

MOELLER, MARTHA, 35 years old, No. 20 St. Mark's place; 
identified by her husband, Emil Moeller. 

MANHEIMER, MAMIE, 36 years old. No. 86 Seventh street; 
identified by Louis Lander, her brother, of No. 148 East Seventh 
street. 

M'GRANE, MICHAEL, 48 years old, steward on the Slocum ; No. 
2 1 61 Eighth avenue; identified by C. G. Peker, a friend, of No. 
301 West One Hundred and Sixteenth street. 

MOTZER, MRS. ANNA, 38 years old, No. 405 Sixth street; iden- 
tified by her sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Schneider, of No. 167 Ave- 
nue A. 

MULLER, EDWARD (10), 368 Bowery. 

MUELLER, HELEN, 37 years old, No. 368 Bowery; identified by 
her husband, Herman Mueller. 

MAYER, MRS. LOUISE, No. 130 East Seventeenth street. 

MAYER, LOUISx\, 39 years old, No. 430 East One Hundred and 
Seventh street; identified by her husband, Nicholas Mayer. 

MICHEL, WILLIAM, 12 years old. No. 34 East Twelfth street; 
identified by father. 



LIST OF THE DP:AD AND MISSING 281 

MULLER, HENRY, 13 years old, No. 20 St. Mark's place; identi- 
fied by father. 

MULLER, ROSE 14 years old, No. 368 Bowery; identified by her 
father. 

MULLER, FLORA, 27 years old, married, No. 28 West Ninety- 
seventh street; identified by brother. 

MULLER, MRS. ANNA (31), No. 123 Seventh street, identified by 
husband, Jacob. 

MORRIS, KATE, 15 years old. 

MUELLER, MRS. B., 25 3^ears old, No. 95 Second avenue; identi- 
fied by Otto Rosenberger, same address. 

MICHAEL, CARRIE, 12 years old, No. 171 Avenue A. 

MESSEKE, MRS. BETTIE, No. 508 Robbins avenue. 

MESSEKE, ANNIE (16), No. 508 Robbins avenue. 

MEYER, ALBERT, JR. (10), No. 454 East Fifteenth street. 

MUSEKE, ANNA, 16 years old, No. 508 Robbins avenue, Bronx; 
identified by brother. 

MEROELLER, MATILDA, fifteen years old, No. 394 Sixth avenue, 
Brooklyn; identified by John E. Lutz, of Demarest, N. J. 

MEIKE, DAISY, 11 years old. No. 504 East Sixteenth street; iden- 
tified by father Otto. 

MOLLITOR, MRS. MARY, Mount Vernon. 

MERSELES, MATILDA (16), No. 394 Sixth avenue, Brooklyn. 

M'LOUGHLIN, MICHAEL (12), No. 69 First avenue. 

MEYER, ALBERT (19), No. 434 East Fifteenth street. 

MENINGER, LENA (30), No. 631 Bergen avenue, Brooklyn. 

MILLER, ELIZABETH, six months old, No. 406 Sixth street; 
identified by father. 

MILLER, FLORA (27), No. 28 West Ninety-seventh street. 

MILLER, MRS. VALESSA, 29 years old. No. 95 Second avenue; 
identified by Otto Rosenberg, No. 95 Second avenue. 

MILLER, HENRY, 3 years old. No. 41 First avenue. 

MAURER, KATE, 13 years and 11 months old. No 1551 Avenue A. 

METTLER, ALBERT, 12 years old, No. 338 East Fiftli street. 

MEXINGER, HARRY, i year old, No. 31 Bergen avenue. 



282 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

MUELLER, HELENA, 7 years old, No. 368 Bowery ; identified by 
father, Edward Mueller. 

MOLITOR, CARL, 5 years old, Midland avenue. 

MOLITOR, AVE, 8 years old, No. 21 Midland avenue, East New 
York. 

MOLKE, ELIZABETH, 30 years old, No. 125 First avenue. 

MANNHEIMER, WALTER, 11 years old. No. 86 Seventh street. 

MEYER, META, 59 years old. No. 381 Madison street. 

MUTH, ELIZA (62), No. 1264 Lexington avenue. 

MUTH, LIZZIE, II years old, No. 785 East One Hundred and 
Forty-sixth street. 

MUTH, TINA, 8 years old. No. 785 East One Hundred and Forty- 
sixth street. 

M'CARTHY, JEREMIAH, 9 years old. No. 134 Hobart avenue, 
Bayonne, N. J. 

N 

NEHLEIN, MINNIE, 41 yeas old, No. 416 Fifth street; identified 

by her husband, Otto Nehlein. 
NORWAY, CARL, No. 313 East Ninth street; identified by father. 
NOVOTRY, LOUIS (18), No. 190 East Third street; identified 

by mother. 
NUNCLE, ARTHUR, no age given, No. 1 1 Seventh street. 
NEIBHUR, LIZZIE (13), No.' 1223 Avenue B. 
NOLL, KATE (20), No. 400 East Fifth street. 
NOLL. KATIE, 40 years old, No. 400 Fifth street. 

O 

OCHS, , died at Lebanon Hospital. 

OEHLER, FRED (14), No. 510 Sixth street. 

OELLRICH, ANNIE, 33 years old. No. 519 Willoughby avenue, 

Brooklyn. 
OSMERS, MILDRED D.. 5 years old, No 49 East Eighty-eighth 

street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 283 

OEHLER, MARY, 55 years old, No. 510 Sixth street; identified by 

Daniel Oehler, her son. 
OLFETH, ANNIE, 45 years old. No. 339 Sixth street; identified 

by husband, Carl, at the Morgue. 
OTTENGER (boy). No. 91 Seventh street. 
OTTENGER (girl), 14, No. 91 Seventh street. 
OTTINGER, KATIE (40), No. 97 East Seventh street. 
OTTINGER, CHARLES (16), No. 97 East Seventh street. 
OTTINGER, EMMA (16), No. 97 East Seventh street. 
OTTINGER, ANDREW (7). No. 97 East Seventh street. 
OTTINGER, ARTHUR (7), No. 97 East Seventh street. 
OHL, CARL (9), No. 340 East Ninth street. 



PAULI, ELSIE (13), No. 26 Avenue A. 

PAULI, KATIE (16), N0..26 Avenue A. 

PATTEBAUM, HERMAN, 5 years old. No. 61 St. Mark's place. 

PRIAWDYSKI, HENRIETTA, 14 years old, No. 85 Third street; 
identified by an uncle, of same address. 

PINING, MRS. DORA, No. 45 Seventh street. 

PRAUDZICKIE, ANNA (15), No. 85 East Third street. 

PRAUDZICKIE, HENRIETTA (14), No. 85 East Third street. 

PRAUDZICKIE, GERTRUDE (13), No. 85 East Third street. 

PULLMAN, WILLIAM H., No. t,t,7 East Eighteenth street, treas- 
urer of Sunday school. 

PART, PAUL C, 10 years old, 10 East Fourth street, Manhattan. 

PLUNKETT, GERALD, 12 years old, 74 Seventh street. 

R 

RICHTER, ANNIE (8), No. 404 Sixth street. 

ROTH, LENA (17), No. 203 Fifth street; identified by her father, 

James, at the Morgue. 
RYAN, MAMIE, 5 years old, No. 345 East Fifteenth street. 



284 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

ROTH, MRS. JOSEPHINE, of No. 203 Fifth street; identified by 
her husband, James, at the Morgxie. 

RUTTINGER, META, 39 years old, No. 47 St. Mark's place ; iden- 
tified by her husband, Ernest Ruttinger. His son, Ernest Ruttin- 
ger, 16 years old, reported missing. 

ROTH, HELEN, 20 years. No. 310 East Broadway; identified by 
Michael Cohen, a friend. 

ROTHMAN, EMILY, 34 years old. No. 48^ Seventh street; iden- 
tified by her husband, William C. Rothman. 

REKANSKI, WANDA, 10 years old, No. 337 Fifth street; identi- 
fied by mother. 

RUTHMAYER, MRS. VETTA, 38 years old. No. 47 St. Mark's 
place; identified by husband, Edward. 

REULING, EMMA, 24 years old. No 424 East Sixth street ; identi- 
fied by father, August. 

ROSENAGLE, ANNIE (38), No. 129 Fourth street; identified by 
husband, Charles. 

ROTHENBURG, ANNIE (18), No. 368 Bowery. 

RICHTER, LENA (35), No. 104 First avenue. 

RICHTER, TESSIE (13), No. 90 First avenue. 

RUTHINGER, ERNEST (16), No. 47 St. Mark's place. 

REICHENBACK, HERMAN, 2^ years old. No. 79 East Houston 
street. 

RUELING, EMMA (24), No. 424 East Sixth street. 

RICHTER, MRS. AMELIA (47), No. 404 Sixth street. 

RICHTER, AUGUST (15). 

RICHTER, AMELIA (20). 

RICHTER, LIZZIE (18). ^ . 

RITZ, TESSIE (13), No 90 First avenue. 

ROTTENBERGER, ANNIE (19), No. 368 Bowery. 

RICHTER, CHRISTINA, 9 years old. No. 104 First street. 

RICHTER, LYDIA, 12 years old, No. 104 First street. 

RINGER, CLARA, 37 years old. No. 170 Avenue A. 

ROTHMAN, WILLIAM C, Jr., No. 48^^ Seventh street. 

ROSENSTEIN, SOPHIA, 20 years old. No. 127 First avenue. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 285 

S 

STOSS, EDNA (10), No. 316 Second avenue. 

SCHWARTZ, LAVINIA (43), No 141 East Third street. 

SCHWARTZ, LOUISA A., No. 290 East Thirty-eighth street. 

SCHNEIDER, A. T., address unknown. 

STROPEL CATHARINE, No 338 East- Sixth street. 

SCHMID, KATHERINE (67), ^No. 418 East Ninth street; identi- 
fied by son Charles at the morgue. 

SCHNITZLER, TINA, MRS. identified by her husband, Patrohnan 
Edward Schnitzler, of the East One Hundred and Fourth Street 
Station, at the morgue. 

SCHWARTZ, LOUISA, MRS. (43), No. 141 Fifth street; identi- 
fied by her husband, Jacob, at the Morgue. 

SIERICHS, LOTTA (38), No. 425 East Twelfth street; identified 
by her husband, William, at the morgue. 

SMITH, MARY, MRS. (35), No 138 Seventh street; identified by 
her cousin, Charles Stock, of No. 142 Seventh street, at the morgue. 

STOEHR, SUSIE, No 340 Sixth street; identified by husband, 
William, at the morgue. 

STRINZ, AUGUST, MRS. (52), No. 90 First avenue; identified by 
son, Paul, at the morgue. 

SMITH, MARTHA, MISS (18), No. 334 East Fifteenth street. 

SCHMIDT, EVA, 17 years old, No. 149 East Fourth street; identi- 
fier by George Schmidt, her brother. 

SCHNEIDLING, ANNIE (15), No. 119 East Seventh street; iden- 
tified by Charles Schneidling, a brother. 

SCHNEIDLING, ANNIE (15), No. 119 East Seventh street; iden- 
tified by Charles Schneidling, a brother. 

SCHAEFER, KATE, 6 years old, No 332 East Thirteenth street. 

SCHUMPF, LIZZIE, MRS., 40 years old. No. 208 Avenue B ; iden- 
tified by her husband, Jacob Schumpf. 

SPIUZ, MRS. AUGUSTA, 52 years old. No 90 First avenue; identi- 
fied by her son, Paul. 

SCHULTZ, EMMA, 10 years old, No. 136 East Fourth street, iden- 
tified by her brother, Eugene Schultz. 



286 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

SIEWART, PHOEBE (7), No 225 East Fifth street. 

SERBER, CATHARINE {'j2), No. 107 East Eighty-fourth street. 

SCHRUPF, JOHN (16), No. 268 Avenue B. 

SCHMIDT, SOPHIA, No. 108 Avenue B. 

SCHMIDT, ANNA, No. 108 Avenue B. 

SEIDENWARD, HENRY (18), No. 184 Third street; identified by 
brother, Charles. 

STENGERi, ROSA (10), No. 88 East Third street; identified by 
uncle, William Gendert. 

SCHOEFFLING, MRS., No. 189 Third avenue, and three-year-old 
daughter, ELSIE ; identified by husband. 

SCHULTZ, MARTHA, 45 years old; identified by brother, Henry 
Miller, of No. 202 St. Mark's place. 

SCHULER, ; identified at morgue by cards; no address given. 

SMITH, HILDRETH, 3 years old, No. 18 Jacobson street; identi- 
fied by father, George. 

SEEMAN, NETA (26), single, No 227 East Twenty-first street; 
identified by Henry C. Ahrens, No. 37 West One Hundred and 
Thirty-second street. 

SCHMIDTLING, ANNA (15), No. 119 Seventh street; identified 
by brother. 

SCHMIDTLING, GEORGE (18), No. 119 Seventh street; iden- 
tified by brother. 

SPOEHE, MRS. SUSAN (29), No. 304 East Sixth street; identi- 
fied by husband, George. 

SCHINDE, HENRY C. (35), No. 1958 Washington avenue, Bronx, 
identified by W. F. McShane, of same address, a friend. 

SCHNEIDER, TESSIE (14), No. 90 First avenue. 

SEILER, KATE {'J2), No. 107 East Eighty-fourth street. 

SCHNEIDER, EVA (14), No. 326 East Sixth street. 

SILVER, KATE (60), No. 207 East Eighty-fourth street. 

SCHMITZLER, KATIE (6), No. 10 Gouverneur place. 

SCHNEIDER, (14), No. 90 First avenue. 

SCHOEFFLING, MARIA (35), No. 189 Third avenue. 

SCHOENINGER, MRS. GOTTLIEDEN (60), No. 118 East Tlnrd 
street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 287 

SCHIMMER, WILLIAM (9), No. 140 First avenue. 
STEIN, CARRIE (9), No. 45 First avenue. 
SCHULER, FREDERICK (14), No. 15 Stuyvesant street. 
SCHRUMPF, WILLIAM (13), No. 208 Avenue B. 
SCHMIDT, SOPHIA, 36 years old, 290 East Second street, Man- 
hattan. 
SCHEELE, ANNA, 15 years old, 14 St. Mark's place. 
SCHEELE, CLARA, 7 years old, 14 St. Mark's place. 
SACKMAN, HERMAN, 7 years old, 341 Rivington street. 
SCHMITT, MRS. EMMA, 25 years old, 264 First avenue. 
SCHOEMANN, ELSIE, 15 years old, 546 Home street. 
SIEGEL, SOPHIA, 30 years old, 54 Seventh street. 
SVOBODA, MAMIE, 8 years old, 170 East Fourth street. 
SCHEIR, JULIA, 6 months old, 124 Seventh street. 
SUGMAN, HENRIETTA, 23 years old, loi First avenue. 
SCHNUDE, MILDRED, 18 years old, 196 Guernsey street, Brooklyn. 
STOCKERMAN, AUGUSTA, 15 years old, 225 Fifth street. 
STENGER, MRS, FRANCIS. 35 years old, 88 East Third street. 
SCHMIDT, AUGUST, 1163 Greene avenue, Brooklyn. 
STOCKERMAN, HULDA, 17 years old, 225 First street. 
STOCKERMAN, LOUISA. 10 years old, 225 First street. 
SCHAIER, FREDERICK, 6 months old, 174 East Third street. 

T 

TOTTEBAUM, HERMAN, No. 16 St. Mark's place: identified by 

brother, Charles, at the Morgue. 
TRAPPING. LILLIAN (26), No. 998 Avenue A; identified by 

father. 
TREBER, MRS. ANNA (35), No. 310 East Twenty-fifth street; 

identified by brother, Henry. 
TROELL, ALBERT (13), No. 405 East Fifth street; identified by 

mother and father. 
TODT, MARY, No. 103 East Seventy-fifth street; body identified at 

Morgue by Detective-Sergeant McCafferty. 
TODT, MRS., janitress at No. 173 East Seventy-fifth street, and her 



288 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

grandchild, son of Mrs. Henry Hermans, of No. 410 East Fifth 

street. 
TETAMORE, MRS. SOPHIA, 30 years old, 1714 Bushwick avenue, 

Brooklyn. 
THORNMAHLER, AUGUSTA, 42 years old, 100 Second street. 
TISCHLER, ERMA, 8 years old, 314 East Ninth street. 
TREPING, MINNIE, 7 years old, 223 Fifth street. 

U 

UNGER, KATE, 48 years old. No. 99 Avenue A. 
UIHLEIN, MRS. MINNIE, 41 years old. No 416 Fifth street. 
ULLMAN, EDWARD, JR., 14 years old, No. 409 Sixth street. 
ULLMAN, LENA, 37 years old, No. 409 East Fifth street; identified 

by her brother, Policeman John Hindes, of the Eleventh Precinct. 
UHLENDORFF, MRS. SELMA, 45 years old, No. 93 Third avenue; 

identified by husband, Louis. 
UHLENDORFF, SELMA (45), No. 93 Third avenue. 
ULLRICH, ELIZABETH, 32 years old, 433 West Forty-first street. 

V 

VOLMER, MARY (35), No 123 First avenue; identified by hus- 
band, Joseph. 

VOLKENBERG, MISS LUCY (25), East Seventeenth street, be- 
tween First and Second avenues; identified by Albert Hentze, No. 
201 First avenue. 

VAETH, WILLIAM, 9 years old, 159 East Ninth street. College 
Point. 

VASSMER, HANNAH, 11 years old, 333 Fifth street. 

VIET, LENA, 26 years old, 159 East Ninth street. College Point. 

VOLMER, MAGD ALINE, 7 years old, 123 First avenue. 

W 

WEIDLER, LAURA (55), No. 411 East Ninth street. 
WIESSO, EMILY (12), No. 216 East Eleventh street. 
WIESER, MRS. CAROLINE, No. 216 East Ninth street. 




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LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 289 

WALTER, ELIZABETH (67), No. 336 Sixth street; identified by 
her son, Philip, at the Morgue. 

WIEDEMAKF, CAROLINE (50), No. 79 East Houston street; iden- 
tified by her husband, Henry, at the Morgue. 

WEAVER, ESTHER, No 304 East Ninth street. 

WETS, EMILY, 10 years old. No. 532 Fifth street; identified by her 
brother, Tobn Weis, of No. 167 Avenue A. 

WETS, TILLY, 47 years old, widow, No. 532 Fifth street; identified 
by her son, John Weis. 

WEIS, LOUIS, 21 years old, single. No. 532 Fifth street; identified 

by his cousin, John Weis. 

WURNER, LILLIAN (18), No 524 East Sixth street; identified by 
Frank Lander, an uncle, of No. 130 East Third street. 

WEISL, MRS. CAROLINE (50), No. 337 East Sixth street; iden- 
tified by sister. • , -r , 

WEHLEIN, MRS. MINNIE (41), No. 416 Fifth street: identified 

by husband, Otto. 

WOLF, MRS. MAGDALEN (65), No. 1181 Fortieth street. Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 

WUNNER, MRS. CARRILANDIS, No 524 Sixth street. 

WALLACE, ROSE, 11 years old, 1214 East Eleventh street. 

WEBER, MRS. FREDERICK, 36 years old, 30 E^st Ninth street. 

WEIS, FREDERICK, 19 years old, 532 Fifth street. 

WOLF FREDA. 2 years old, 283 Himrod street, Brooklyn. 

WOLMER, KATHERINE E., 58 years old, 246 Woodbine street, 

Brooklyn. 
WOODS, MRS. WALTER E., 26 years old, 127 First avenue. 
WOULREIN, HULDA, 28 years old, 1702 Dean street, Brooklyn. 
WURTENBERGER, LILLIAN, 19 months old, 55 First avenue. 
WERNZ, ANNIE, 22 years old, 426 Sixth street. 
WEIDMAN, CATHERINE, 29 years old, 79 East Houston street. 
WEIDMAN,' HARRIET, 79 East Houston street. 
WEISS, John, Jr., 5 months old, 532 Fifth street. 
WEISS, SALOME, 14 years old, 532 Fifth street. 
WURMSTITCH, BARBARA, 37 years old, 413 Fifth street. 



290 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 



ZIEGLER, EMILY, 19 years old, No. 370 East Tenth street; iden- 
tified by John Schrenck, a friend. 
ZIMMERMAN, HUGO (12), No. 196 Second avenue. 
ZIPSE, LOUISE (10), No. 335 East Twenty-first street. 
ZIMMERMAN, AUGUSTA (16), No. 106 Second avenue. 
ZITSI, MARY (14), No 335 East Twenty-first street. 
ZAHN, MRS. BERTHA, 22 years old, 693 First avenue. 
ZIMMERMAN, WILLIAM (30), 229 Bleeker street, Brooklyn. 



MISSING 



ADDICKS, AMELIA, 75 years old, No. 49 Avenue A. 
ADDICKS, JOHN, 16 years old. 
ADDICKS, MARY, 9 years old. 
ADDICKS, ANNIE, 7 years old. 
ADDICKS, ERNEST, 5 years old. 
ADDICKS, MARTHA, 10 years old. 

ANGER, CARL, Assistant Superintendent of the St. Mark's Luth- 
eran Church Sunday School. 
ANGER, MRS. CARL, No. 357 East Sixty-second street. 
ANGER, EDWIN, No. 243 East Fourteenth street. 
ANGER, MRS. CHARLES, No. 523 East Eighty-third street. 
ARMBURST, BARBARA, No. 1C6 East Fourth street. 
ARMBURST, EDA, No 166 East Fourth street. 
ABESSER, MRS., 128 East Fourth street. 
ABESSER, HENRY, 128 East Fourth street. 

ARMOND, , grandmother, 334 East Sixth street. 

ARMOND, , grandchild, 334 East Sixth street. 

ABESSER, KATE (8), No. 129 East Fourth street. 
ABESSER, EMILY (11), No. 128 East Fourth street. 
ABRAHAMS, ISAAC (24), No. 166 Avenue C. 
ACKERMAN, MRS. BARBARA, No 406 East Fifth street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 291 

ACKERAIAN, LENA, 16 months old, No. 406 East Fifth street. 
ALFELD, MRS. CARL (44), No. 339 Sixth street. 
ARMBRUST, MAMIE (13), No. 166 East Fourth street. 
ANGER, ROSE, No. 1365 Third avenue. 
ANGER, GERTRUDE, No. 1365 Third avenue. 
ABRAM, ISAAC (24), No. 156 Avenue C. 



B 

BAGLEY, MRS. MARY, 41 years old. No. 489 West One Hundred 

and Thirtieth street. 
BAGLEY, LIZZIE, 11 years old, daughter of Mary. 
BALLNER, JOSEPH (16), No. 123 First avenue. 
BALLNER, MINNIE (8), No. 123 First avenue. 
BENECKE, MRS. WILLIAM C, No. 420 East Seventeenth street. 
BECK, MRS. CHRISTIAN (56), wife of John Beck, No. 315 East 

Ninth street. 

BUCK, , child of George Buck. 

BUCK, , child of George Buck. 

BEHRENS, ALICE, 15 years old. No. 127 Garden street, Hoboken. 
BEHRENDT, MRS. MARY, No. 88 Third street; seriously burned; 

wandered from police custody after reporting loss of her children. 
BEHRENDT, LIZZIE, 10 years old, No. 88 Third street. 
BEHRENDT, FANNIE, 8 years old. No. 88 Third street. 

BERTRAND, , 730 Sixth street. 

BERTRAND, MRS. , wife of above. 

BROOKS, MARY (12), No. 5 Avenue A. 

BRUCHARD, MRS. — , wife of a physician of Hoboken. 

BRUNING, JOHN (46), No. 215 East Twelfth street. 
BECKER, CLARA, 1157 Lexington avenue. 
BENDELOW, LULU, 84 East Seventh street. 
BENDELOW, GEORGE, 84 East Seventh street. 
BRUNICK, WILLIAM, 71 East Fifth street. 
BROOK, MARGARET (13), No. 51 First avenue. 
BEHRENS, FRED. 134 East Twenty-eighth street. 



292 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

BAUMLER, MRS. LENA, and three children, No. 526 East Sixth 
street. 

BONEHARDT, OTTO, No. 304 East Fourteenth street. 

BONEHARDT, ELLA, No. 304 East Fourteenth street. 

BETTER, HENRY, 46 years old. No. 730 East Sixth street. 

BETTER, JACOB, 31 years old. No. 730 East Sixth street. 

BETTER, RICHARD, 16 years old, No. 730 East Sixth street. 

BETTER, MAMIE, 14 years old. No. 730 East Sixth street. 

BETTER, CHARLES, 12 years old, No. 730 East Sixth street. 

BETTER, MRS. HENRY, 40 years old, No. 730 East Sixth street 

BAHR, LILLY, 7 years old, No. 424 East Ninth street. 

BAHR, IDA, 13 years old. No. 424 East Ninth street. 

BAHR, MRS., 33 years old, No. 424 East Ninth street. 

BRANDT, IDA, 25 years old. No. 410 East Ninth street. 

BROWN, MINNIE, 13 years old, No. 69 First avenue. 

BOENHARDT, OTTO, 13 years old. No. 322 East Thirteenth street. 

BOENHARDT, ELLA, 12 years old. No. 322 East Thirteenth street. 

BOESSE, MRS., 34 years old. No. 125 Avenue A. 

BARKER, K., No. 137 Avenue B. 

BEISS, ROSA, 5 years old, No. 70 First avenue. 

BRECKERSTUCHS, ANNIE, No. 276 First avenue. 

BAUMLER, MRS., No. 433 East Sixth street. 

BAUMLER, ANNIE, No. 433 East Sixth street. 

BAUMLER, EMLIA, No. 433 East Sixth street. 

BAUMLER, CHARLIE, No. 433 East Sixth street. 

BARCEI, MRS. LIZZIE, No. 284 East Seventh street. 

BEDESKY, ETTIE, No. 85 East Third street. 

BAIST, LILLIAN (12), No. 23 Avenue B. 

BUCHMILLER, MRS. ANNIE {27), No. 79 Colyer street, Green- 
point. 

BUCHMILLER;, GEORGE (8), No. 79 Colyer street, Greenpoint. 

BUCHMILLER, ARTHUR (lo). No. 79 Colyer street. Green- 
point. 

BEHRENS, HENRY, (5), No. 134 East Twenty-eighth street. 

BOZENHARDT, LUCILLE (11), No. no First avenue. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 293 

BRUNING, GRACE (14), No. 215 East Twelfth street. 

BECKMANN, ANNIE, Third avenue, near One Hundred and 
Fourth street. 

BECKMANN, , 4 months old. Third avenue, near One Hun- 
dred and Fourth street. 

BERDOLDT, MRS. F. (30), No. 41 Third avenue. 

BENTZ, OTTO (14), No. 333 Fifth street. 

BEHNKEN, ANNIE (13), East Forty-eighth street. 



CATLIN, ROSE, 19 years old, No. 27 Sheriff street. 

CORDES, ETTA, 2^ years old, No. 411 East Sixteenth street. 

CORDES, FRANK, 14 years old. No. 411 East Sixteenth street. 

CORDES, CHARLES, 18 years old. No. 411 East Sixteenth street. 

COHRS, HENRY, i year old. No 70 First avenue. 

COHRS, MRS., No. 70 First avenue. 

COHRS, HENRY, No. 70 First avenue. 

COHRS, FREjDA, 6 years old. No. 70 First avenue. 

COHRS, FREDA, 25 years old. No. 70 First avenue. 

CRAGER, WINIFRED, No. 222 East Twelfth street. 

COHN, MICHAEL, No. 106 Avenue A. 

COHN, MRS. MICHAEL, No. 106 Avenue A. 

COLLINS, CHARLES (36), No 401 West Twenty-third street. 

CAHILL, MRS. ANNA (22), No. 316 Sixth street. 

D 

DEMEINER, MRS. , No. 895 Jefferson place. 

DORAN, MRS. THOMAS, 28 years old. No. 447 East Twenty-fifth 
street. 

DORAN, , 14 months old, child of Mrs. Doran. 

DIPPERT, CHARLES, io>^ months old, son of Charles and Mary 
Dippert. 

DOEHRING, IDA, 33 years old, wife of the Rev. E. Doerhing, Luth- 
eran Missionary on Ellis Island. 



294 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

DOEHRING, GUSTAV, 9 years old, her son. 

DOEHRING, MARTHA, 5 years old, her daughter. 

DORFFHAGER, MRS. , 40 years old, No. 12S Avenue A. 

DORFFHAGER, FRED, 10 years old, No. 128 Avenue A. 

DORFFHAGER, FREDA, 13 years old. No. 128 Avenue A. 

DORFFHAGER, MAMIE, 8 years old. No. 128 Avenue A. 

DIETZ, ROSIE, 438 East Sixth street. 

DrrTRICH, MRS. HENRY, 30 years old. No. 96 Greenwich street. 

DITTRICH, EMMA, 2 years old. No. 96 Greenwich street. 

DITTRICH, HERMAN, 4 years old. No. 96 Greenwich street. 

DITTRICH, ALBERT, 9 years old. No. 96 Greenwich street. 

DITTRICH, GEORGE, 10 years old. No. 96 Greenwich street. 

DISTLER, HENRY, No. 116 East Fourteenth street, and three chil- 
dren. 

DELUCCE MRS., No. 54 East Seventh street. 

DELUCCE, ROSIE, 54 East Seventh street. 

DELUCCE, HENRY, No. 54 East Seventh street. 

DELUCCE, FRANKIE, No. 54 East Seventh street. 

DUES, JULIA, No. 103 Avenue A. 

DUES, PAULINA, No. 103 Avenue A. 

DUES, MINNIE, No. 103 Avenue A. 

DRUSE, FRIEDA (28), No. 54 East Fourth street. 

DRUSE, HENRY (6;, No. 54 East Fourth street. 

DRUSE, TILLIE (2), Na 54 East Fourth street. 

DAUERHEIM, MRS. MINNIE, No. 1065 Jackson avenue, the 
Bronx. 

DERSCH, MRS. HELEN (40), No. 76 First avenue. 

DEBRICHT, MARTHA (8), No. 414 East Ninth, Salvation Army 
Home. 

DIEHL, LULU (34), No. 209 East Fifth street. 

DIEHL, JOSEPHINE (7), No. 209 East Fifth street. 

DIEHL, KATIE (3), No. 209 East Fifth street. 

DIEHL, MRS. KATE (59), No. 209 East Fifth street. 

DORKMAN, JENNIE, Jersey City. 

DEINER, MRS., No. 895 Jefferson place. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 295 

DUNN, MRS. JULIA, Sherwood Park, N. Y. 
DUNN, ARTHUR, her son. 



ERDMAN, MARGARET (36), wife of Anthony, No. 346 East Ninth 

street. 
ERKLIN, MRS. OTTO E., No. 1028 Hudson street, Hoboken. 
ERKLIN, , three children of above, aged 5 years, 2 years and 

2 months. 
ENGER, ROSIE, daughter of George Enger, No. 1365 Third 

avenue. 
ENGER, GERTRUDE, daughter of George. 
EICKHOFF, AUGUSTA, 15 years old, 196 Second avenue. 
EICKHOFF, HUGO, 12 years old, 196 Second avenue. 
ENGLEMAN, ANNA, No. 41 East Twelfth street. 
ESHER, ROSIE (16), No. 87 Avenue A. 
EHLIG, CONEY (7), No. 425 Fifth street, and two sisters. 
ENS, MRS. CHRISTIANA, No. 184 West Broadway. 
ELK, MRS. ADDIE, No. 306 Sixth street. 
EBLING, MRS. A. (^2), No. 77 First avenue. 
EBLING, GEORGE (5), No. 77 First avenue. 
ELICK, ELSIE (4), No. 433 East Fifth street. 
ELICK, LIZZIE, No. 433 East Fifth street. 



FASSNER, MRS. JOHANNA, No. 332 East Fifth street. 
FASSNER, MUSIE, 12 years old, No. 333 East Fifth street. 
FASSNER, WILLIE, 9 years old, No. 333 East Fifth street. 
FRICKBOHM, ERNEST, 11 years old. No. 91 Avenue B. 
FRICKBOHM, FRED, 9 years old. No. 91 Avenue B. 
FULLER, MRS. ANNIE, No. 95 Second avenue. 

FULLER, , her three sons, 8, 10 and 12 years old. 

FELTZKE, MRS., No. 211 East Fifth street. 



296 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

FELTZKE, LIZZIE, 15 years old, No. 211 East Fifth street. 

FELTZKE, HERMAN, 8 months old, No. 211 East Fifth street. 

FUNK, MICHAEL, 12 years old. No. 31 Avenue A. 

FREY, EDNA, No. 84 Seventh street. 

FREY, LOUIS, No. 84 Seventh street. 

FREY, GUSSIE, No. 84 Seventh street. 

FISCHER, MRS., 52 years old, No. 108 First avenue. 

FRICKBOLM, MRS., No. 284 East Seventh street. 

FRICKBOHN, EARNEST, No. 91 Avenue D. 

FRICKBOHN (servant, name unknown). No. 91 Avenue D. 

FITTIG, MRS. PETER, No 120 Second avenue. 

FITTIG, ELSIE, No. 120 Second avenue. 

FICKLBAUM, MARIE, 27 years old No. 284 East Seventh street. 

FICKLBAUM, MARY, 12 years old, 284 East Seventh street. 

FICKLBAUM, ERNEST, 10 years old, 284 East Seventh street. 

FICKLBAUM, FRED., 8 years, 284 East Seventh street. 

FULMER, JOSEPH, No. 123 First avenue. 

FELTHUSEN, boy, No 50 West Eighth street. 

FISCHLER, HATTIE, 8 years old. No. 314 East Ninetieth street. 

FINKELHAZEL, MRS. CATHERINE (35), No. 439 East Sixth 

street. 
FELLIG, PETER, No. 58 Willett street. 



GREVEL, EMMA (15), No. 117 Second avenue. 

GASSMAN, MRS., No. 128 East Fourth street. 

GRETZ, MRS. BARBARA (37), No. 526 East Sixth street. 

GRETZ, GEORGE (8), No. 526 East Sixth street. 

GRETZ, LILLIAN, 10 months old, No. 526 East Sixth street. 

GREVE, FRED (14), No. 54 Seventh street. 

GREVE, MRS., No. 54 Seventh street. 

GOSS, MARY (59), No. 97 Seventh street. 

GREWALD, ELSIE (9), No. 56 Seventh street. 

GREWALD, FRITZ (12), No. 56 Seventh street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 297 

GILLIS, CHARLES (16), no address. 
GRANNING, MRS. LENA {2^), No. 45 Se\'enth street. 
GRANNING, HENRY (6), No. 45 Seventh street. 
GALEWSKY, FLORA (36), No. 54 Seventh street. 
GALEWSKY, MORRIS (3), No. 54 Seventh street. 
GALLAGHER, VERONICA, 35 years old, No. 45 East Fifteenth 

street. 
GALLAGHER, WALTER (7), No. 45 East Fifteenth street. 
GALLAGHER, KATIE (5), No. 45 East Fifteenth street. 
GEISLER, ^IRS. CATHERINE (20), No. 201 Avenue A. 
GEISLER EDWARD (19), No. 201 Avenue A. 
GEISLER, WILLIA^I (17), No. 201 Avenue A. 
GIBBONS, MARGARET (13), No. 225 East Fifth street. 
GIBBONS, ELLA (11), No. 225 East Fifth street. 
GRUENNING, MRS. HELEN (29), No. 45 Seventh street. 
GRUENNING, HARRY (5). 
GRUENNING, CHARLES (3). 
GRUENNING, HELEN, 9 months old. 

H 

HENKEL, LILLIE (8), No. 227 Seventh street. 
HAAG, MRS. Susana (49), No. 158 First avenue. 
HAAG, ELLA (13), No. 158 First avenue. 
HEYL, DORA (18), No. 9 West Nineteenth street. 
HENTZENBERGER, two boys, No. 22 St. Mark's place. 
HETTINGER, MRS. A. J., No. 127 First avenue. 
HARRIS, SYLVIA (10), No. 242 East Fifth street. 
HARRIS, AGNES (19), No. 242 East Fifth street. 
HECKERT, ANIOME (12), Avenue A and Fifth street. 
HAAD, WILLIAM (14), No. 210 East Fourteenth street. 
HA AD, WILMA (13), No. 210 East Fourteenth street. 
HAAD, EMMA (11), No. 210 East Fourteenth street. 
HARTMANN, MARJORIE (lO. No. 309 East Tenth street. 
HARTMANN, CLARA ( 1 1 ) , No. 309 East- Tenth street. 



298 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

HARTMANN, MRS. MARY (45), No 309 East Tenth street. 

HARTING, HARRY (15). 

H ARTING, WILLIE (15). 

HARTING, CLARA (11). 

HEINIZ, ANNIE (40), No. 300 Hunt street. 

HEINZ, ETTA (10), No. 300 Hunt street. 

HEINZ, ANNA, No. 240 Ninth avenue. 

HORWAY, CARL (i), No. 313 East Ninth street. 

HOTZ, LILLIE (9), No. 319 Fifth street. 

HOTZ, BERTHA (13), No. 319 Fifth street. 

HETTERICH, ROBERT (6), No. 420 East Fifteenth street. 

HETTERICH, EMIL (3), No. 420 East Fifteenth street. 

HETTERICH, ADOLPHE (i), 420 East Fifteenth street. 

HENRY^ SADIE (12), No. 225 Fifth street. 

HENZLER, JACOB (9), No. 154 First avenue. 

HENZLER, GUSSIE (11), No. 154 First avenue. 

HENZLER, MILLIE (18), No. 154 First avenue. 

HEUER, MRS. LENA, No. 129 Division street. 

HEUER, DORA (5), No. 129 Division street. 

HEUER, HERMAN (7), No. 129 Division street. 

HEUER, MAY (15), No. 129 Division street. 

HOEFMAN, RAYMOND, son of Fred Hofifman, No. y^ Second 

street. 
HOFFMAN, EDNA, daughter of Fred Hofifman, No. y^i Second 

street. 
HAVEMEYER, EMMA {2^), No. 1499 First avenue. 
HAVEMEY^ER, WILLIAM (7), No. 1499 First avenue. 
HARTUNG, MRS. LOUISA, no address. 
HARTUNG, MINNIE, no address. 
HARTUNG, FRANCES (17), no address. 
HAGENBUSHER, MAMIE, Sherwood Park, N. Y. 
HOFFMAN, MARIE, No. 1394 Washington avenue, Bronx. 
HAVEMEY'ER, ANNA (35), No. 1499 First avenue. 
HAGENBARCHER, MRS. KATE, and eight children, No. 211 

Third avenue. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 299 

J 

IDEN, EMMA (13), No. 67 East Fourth street. 
IDEN, MINNIE (7), No. 100 East Fourth street. 



K 

KIEFERG, LOUIS J. (21), No. 1592 Second avenue. 

KEPPLER, LILLIE (16), No. 192 First avenue. 

KLEUCK, MINNIE (19), No. 438 Sixth street. 

KLEIN, EMILY (7), No. 314 East Sixth street. 

KRUNING, MRS., and three children. Seventh street and Second 

avenue. 
KORNMAN, MINNIE, No. 402 Third street. 
KOCH, GUSSIE (21), No. 84 Seventh street. 
KUENSTER, WILLIAM (13), No. 65 St. Mark's place. 
KRAFFT, MRS. LOUISE (30), No. 140 East Fourth street. 
KOPF, EMILE (10), No. 337 East Ninth street. 
KOPF, FRANCES (8), No. 337 East Ninth street. 
KOPF, ELLA (i), No. 337 East Ninth street. 
KUNZE, GUSSIE, No. 89 Broadway, Brooklyn. 
KRUSTSCH, MARTHA (14), No. 513 Sixth street. 
KLATTHAAR, GEORGE (56), No. 506 Fifth street. 
KLEMM, MRS. (60), No. — East Ninth street. 
KALB, GUSSIE (22), No. 84 East Seventh street. 
KLEINHENZ, BARBARA (44), No. 196 Avenue A. 
KLEINHENZ, LENA (11), No. 196 Avenue A. 
KIEGLER, LIZZIE (4), No. 257 Avenue A 
KIEGLER, FRED (9), No. 257 Avenue A. 
KIEGLER, DORA (11). No. 257 Avenue A. 
KREUDER, MRS ANNIE, No. 52 West Ninety-seventh street. 
KREUDER, MRS. LENA, No. 52 West Ninety-seventh street. 
KLEINBERT, TESSIE (17), No. 431 East Fifteenth street. 
KLEINBERT, ANNA, No. 431 East Fifteenth street. 
KNUESSEL, MRS. (35), No. 439 Sixth street. 



300 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

KNUESSEL, WILLL^M (ii). 

KNUESSEL, ANNIE (9). 

KNUSSEL, NETTIE (8). 

KLEIN, MRS. KATE (22), No. 436 East Fifteenth street. 



LYMAN, SAMUEL (8), No. ^2 Avenue B. 
LAMBECK, ALBERTINA (33), No,. 427 Ninth street. 
LAMBECK, DORA (11), No. 427 Ninth street. 
LAMBECK, MINNIE (9), No. 427 Ninth street. 
LAMBECK HERMAN (14), No. 427 Ninth street. 
LAMBECK ALBERT (4), No. 427 Ninth street. 
LOEFFLER, MRS. KATRINA (40), No. 9 East Third street. 
LAURIE, LONA (15), No'. 11 1 East Fourth street. 
LUTZ, GUSTAV (16), No. 148 Second avenue. 
LINK, ARjTHUR (14), No. 76 Avenue A. 
LINK, EDWARD (14), No. y^ Avenue A. 
LINK, LOTTIE (8), No. ^6 Avenue A. 

LUPENZ, MRS. GERTRUDE (46), No. 102 Clymer street, Brook- 
lyn. 
LUPENZ MILDRED (18), No. 102 Clymer street, Brooklyn. 

M 

MACK, FRIEDA (8), Training School, No. 414 East Ninth street. 

MACK, ANNIE (22), No. 401 East Fifth street. 

MULLER, MRS. FLORENTINA (60), No. 321 East Ninth street. 

MULLER, GROVER (12), No. 95 Second avenue. 

MULLER ARTHUR (5), No. 95 Second avenue. 

MULLER WALTER (9), No. 95 Second avenue. 

MULLER, IRENE (4), Bowery and Cooper square. 

MEDOLEN, KATIE (35), No. 338 Fifth street. 

MEDOLEN, FRED, No. 338 Fifth street. 

MEDOLEN, ALBERT, No. 338 Fifth street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 301 

MEDOLEN, ROBERT, No. 338^ Fifth street. 

MATTES, LIZZIE (21), No. (i^ Avenue A. 

MUTH, MRS. KATE, No. 785 One Hundred and Forty-Sixth 

street. 
MUTH, KATE (8), No. 785 East One Hundred and Forty-sixth 

street. 
MUTH JOHN (3), No. 785 East One Hundred and Forty-sixth 

street. 
MUTH MRS. ANNA, No. 1254 Lexington avenue. 
MUTH, CONRAD (12), No. 1254 Lexington avenue. 
MELPEN, MRS. FREDERICK, No. 80 First avenue. 
MEYER, MRS. LIZZIE, No. 387 Madison street. 
MAMME, MRS. FREDERICK, No. 730 Sixth avenue. 
MAMME, CHARLES, No. 730 Sixth avenue. 
MENNINGER, MRS. LIZZIE (30), No. 631 Bergen avenue. 
McCARTIN, PATROLMAN GEORGE, West One Hundred and 

Fifty-second street station, with his wife and family. 
MOELLER, MRS., No. 20 St. Mark's place. 
MOELLER, EDWIN (5), No. 20 St. Mark's place. 
MOLITER, MRS. MARGARET (45), Sherwood Park, N. Y. 
MOLITER, CARL (her son), (4). 
MOLITER, FANNIE (daughter). 
MOLITER, JOSEPH (son), (6 mos.). 
MARSHALL, DANIEL (12), No. 127 First avenue. 
MARSHALL, HENRY (9), same address. 
MOELLER, HENRY (13), No. 20 St. Mark's place. 
MARIO, MAMIE (14), No. 121 Pitt street. 



N 

NOLL, KATIE in). No. 400 Fifth street. 
NOLL, THEODORE (6), No. 400 Fifth street. 
NIEBAHR, MRS. M. (38), No. 23 Avenue B. 
NIEBAHR, MARIE (9), No. 23 Avenue B. 



302 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

NIEBAHR, MAMIE (7), No. 23 Avenue B. 

NECKER, TESSIE (7), Sixteenth street and Ninth avenue. 



O 

OTTENGER, MRS. KATE (33), No. 91 Seventh street. 
OTTENGER, CHARLES (15), No. 91 Seventh street. 
OTTENGER, ANDREW (7), No. 91 Seventh street. 
OTTENGER, ARTHUR (5), No. 91 Seventh street. 
OCHSE, CARRIE (15), No. 50 St. Mark's place. 
OCHSE, EDWARD (11), No. 50 St. Mark's place. 
OSMUS, MRS. MARY (52), No. 49 East Eighty-ninth street. 
OSMUS, ADOLPH (17), No. 49 East Eighty-ninth street. 
OELBRICK, FRED (6), No. 519 Willoughby street, Brooklyn. 
OELBRICK, HENRY (12), No. 519 Willoughby street, Brooklyn. 
OELBRICK, MINNIE (4), No. 519 Willoughby street, Brooklyn. 
OELBRICK, LIZZIE (3), No. 519 Willoughby street, Brooklyn. 
OELBRICK, HELEN (2), No. 519 Willoughby street, Brooklyn. 
OHL, EMILY (11), No. 340 East street. 
OHL, CHARLES (9), No. 340 East Ninth street. 



PORT, HENRY (15), No. 58 East Fourth street. 
PORT, PAULINE (12), No. 58 East Fourth street. 
PEINING, MRS. (54), No. 45 Seventh street. 
PULLMAN, WILLIAM (16), No. 337 East Eighteenth street. 
PULLMAN, MRS. ELIZABETH, No. 337 East Eighteenth street. 
PULLMAN, ELSIE (18), No. 33*7 East Eighteenth street. 
PETERS, MARGARET (22), No. 50 Avenue A. 
PROBST, KATE (24), No. 516 East Twelfth street. 
PAULY, KATE (20), No. 26 Avenue A. 
PAULY, ELSIE (13), No. 26 Avenue A. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND MISSING 303 

Q 

QUINN, GEORGE, No. 211 Fifth street. 
QUINN, HATTIE, No. 211 Fifth street. 
QUINN, HENRIETTA, No. 211 Fifth street. 

R 

RICHTER, AMELIA (47), No. 404 Sixth street. 
RICHTER, AMELIA (20), No. 404 Sixth street. 
RICHTER, ERNST (12), No. 404 Sixth stee^ 
RICHTER, ANNA (8), No. 404 Sixth street. 
RICHTER, LIZZIE (19), No. 404 Sixth street. 
ROSENSTEIN, KATIE {^-j), No. 127 First avenue. 
ROTHMAN, MRS. ELIZA (40), No. 100 First avenue. 

ROTHMAN, (8), No. 100 First avenue. 

ROTHMAN, (11), No. 100 First avenue. 

REICHBACH (2), son of Mrs. Helen Reichbach, No. 240 

Stockton street, Brooklyn. 
RHEINFRANK, J., Goerck and East Third streets. 
ROSENBERGER, MRS. MARY, No. 417 East Eighteenth street. 

ROSENBERGER (8), No. 417 East Eighteenth street. 

REULING, GERTRUDE, No. 424 Sixth street. 
RICE, KATE, No. 70 First avenue. 
RICE, ROSE (16), No. 70 First avenue. 
RICE, LIZZIE (6), No. 70 First avenue. 
RICE, LORENZO (4), No. 70 First avenue. 
RICE, ANNIE (3), No. 70 First avenue. 
RUTHINGER, ERNEST (16), No. 47 St. Mark's place. 
RUTHINGER, MRS. NITA (39), No. 47 St. Mark's place. 
RUTHINGER, ELSIE (14), No. 47 St. Mark's place. 
RUTHINGER, FRED (10), No. 47 St. Mark's place. 
RICHTER, FRED (11), No. 104 First avenue. 
ROSENAGEL, LUCY (14), No. 129 East Fourth street. 
ROSEN AGEL, CHARLES R., No. 129 East Fourth street. 
RIETZ, TESSIE (12), No. 90 First avenue. 



304 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

RAMUS, IRVING (ii), No. 420 East Seventeenth street. 
RAMUS, FREDERICK (60), same address. 



SCHNEIDER, MRS. DORA (32), No. 322 Stanhope street, Brook- 
lyn. 

SCHNEIDER, KATE (8), No. 322 Stanhope street, Brooklyn. 

SCHNEIDER, AMELIA (6), No. 322 Stanhope street, Brooklyn. 

SCHMILING, MRS. ELIZA (36), No. 123 Avenue A. 

SCHMILING, FRED, No. 123 Avenue A. 

STOCKDALE, MRS. KATE (52), No. 266 West One Hundred 
and Thirty-first street. 

STOCKDALE, EDWARD J. (32), No. 266 West One Hundred 
and Thirty-first street. 

SCHUMACHER, KATE (14), No. 436 Sixth street. 

SCHUMACHER, EDWARD (10), No. 436 Sixth street. 

SCHUEBBE, CARRIE (15), No. 54 Avenue A. 

SCHUMANN, MRS. MARY (30), No. 54 Avenue A. 

SCHUMANN, ANNIE (5), No. 54 Avenue A. 

SCHUMANN, ALFRED (7), No. 54 Avenue A. ^ 

SCHUMANN, EMMA (22 mos.). No. 54 Avenue A. 

STEIN, CARRIE (9), No. 45 First avenue. 

STEGEL, ANNIE (13), First avenue and Fourth street. 

SANDERS, NELLIE (13), No. 416 East Sixteenth street. 

STERN, LOUISA (15), No. 508 Fifth street. 

SCHOENONGET, MRS., No. 118 East Third street. 

SILVERBERG, LILLIE (18), No. 215 West Thirteenth street. 

SIEGWERT, HARRY (10), No. 225 Fifth street. 

SIEGWERT, PHILIP (8), No. 225 Fifth street. 

SCHOTTSBERG, MRS., and two children. No. 22 St. Mark's place. 

SCHEIER, FRED (20), East Eijrhth street. 

SHARE, MARY (62), No. 419 East Ninth street. 

SMITH, WILLIAM (5), No. 142 Seventh avenue. 

SCHNITZLER, KATE (6), No. 801 East One Hundred and Forty- 
seventh street. 



LIST OF THE DEAD AND -MISSING 305 

SCHNEIDER, MRS. T. (40), No. 326 Sixth street. 
SCHNEIDER, EVA (14), No. 326 Sixth street. 
SCHOEFLING, EDWARD (10), No. 189 Third avenue. 
SCHUMPF, LIZZIE, No. 208 Avenue B. 
STEGMAN, MRS., East Fourth street. 
SCHMIDT, HENRY (38) 

SCHAIER, MRS. (20), No. 237 East Tenth street. 
SCHAIER, MARGARET (7 mos.). No. 237 East Tenth street. 
SACKMAN, MRS. MARGARET, No. 343 Rivington street. 
SACKMAN, MARGARET (10), No. 343 Rivington street. 
STECKERMAN, MRS., No. 225 Fifth street. 
STECKERMAN, HERMAN (8), No. 225 Fifth street. 
STENGER, ROSIE (7), No. 88 East Third street. 
SIEGEL, MRS. T. (24), No. 54 Seventh street. 
SCHMIDT, MRS. WILLIAM, No. 138 East Seventh street. 
STUBENRAUCH, ANNA (21), No. 303 Sixth street. 
SCHMIDT, ERNA (5 mos.), No. 264 First avenue. 
SCHNEIDER, TESSIE (14), No. 90 First avenue. 
SCHLUVER, W., Mr. and Mrs., No. 462 East Seventy-sixth street. 
SCHLUVER, HARRY, Mr. and Mrs. and two children. No. 196 

Irwin street, Brooklyn. 
SCHRENEMANN, ELSIE (17), No. 986 Holmes street, Bronx. 
SCHRENEMANN, JOHN (15), same address. 
STRICKORD, MRS., and four children. No. 144 Essex street. 



TROLL, ALBERT (12), No. 405 Fifth street. 
TOTTEBAUM, MRS. LIZZIE (48), No. 61 St. Mark's place. 
TOTTEBAUM, HENRY (5), No. 61 St. Mark's place. 
TOTTEBAUM, WILLIAM (9), No. 61 St. Mark's place. 
TODE, MRS. (65), No. 103 East Seventy-fifth street. 

U 

ULRICH, JULIA (15), No. 58 Willet street. 
UHLANDCREFF, LOUISE (8), No. 93 Third avenue. 



3o6 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

V 

VETTER, MRS. HENRY, and two children, No. 720 Sixth street. 

VETTER, MAMIE (17), No. 17 Sixth street. 

VOETH, WILLIAM, SR. (54), No. 107 East Fourth street. 

W 
WOOLMAN, MRS. CATHERINE, No. 2225 Jerome avenue. 
WOODMAN, LOUISA, No. 2225 Jerome avenue. 
WOLFF, MRS. M. No. 420 East Sixteenth street. 
WEBER, FRANK (7), No. 404 Fifth street. 
WEBER, EMMA (iqI), No. 404 Fifth street. 
WEISS, MRS. IDA M (40), No. 1335 Third avenue. 
WEISS, GEORGE (15), No. 1339 Third avenue. 
WALTER, MRS. ELIZABETH (66), No. 336 Sixth street. 
Five children of the above. 

WOLLMER, MRS. ELIZA, No. 246 Woodbine street, Brooklyn. 
WOLLMER, LOUISE (22), No. 246 Woodbine street, Brooklyn. 
WORMSTITCH, MR., No. 413 Fifth street. 
WOOD, MRS. KATIE (30), Kurtzville, N. J. 
WEIDLER, MRS. HENRY (55), No. 411 East Ninth street. 
WEIDLER, HERBERT (12), No. 411 East Ninth street. 
WENTZ, LEO (11), No. 421 Fifth street. 

WENTZ (9), No. 421 Fifth street. 

WENGERT, ETHEL (7), No 409 Fifth street. 

WEISS, LOUIS ( ), No. 532 Fifth street. 

WOLFERT, MRS. ROBERT ( ), No. 106 Seventh street. 

WOLFERT, ROBERT (11), No. 106 Seventh street. 

WOLFERT (8), No. 106 Seventh street. 

WURTEMBERGER, MRS MAMIE (22), No. 55 First avenue. 
WILLIAM, FRANK (19), No. 119 East Twenty-fifth street. 
WEBER, EMMA (10), No 404 Fifth street. 
WEBER, FRANK (7), same address. 
WORTHMANN, JULIA (18), No. 178 Avenue A. 

Z 
ZUNDEL, CHARLES (6), No. 104 First avenue. 
ZUDERMAN, HENRIETTA, No. 104 First avenue. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

RECORD OF STEAMBOAT DISASTERS 

Worse accidents, with greater loss of life, than the burning 
of the General Slocum have occurred, and yet instances of 
greater fatality in accidents due to human agency are difficult 
to find. Probably the worst catastrophe of this character was 
the fire which, on December 8, 1863, suddenly swept through 
the crowded Church of the Campania, in Santiago, Chili, 
where hundreds of women and children were celebrating 
the last day of "The Month of Mary," and destroyed more 
than two thousand of them. Caught in the crowded church, 
without proper exits, the worshipers were cremated, and the 
public indignation which attended the catastrophe was so 
violent that the church was razed to the ground. 

Of natural convulsions New York has little to fear, but of 
the accidents which belong particularly to a great city its 
record is long and melancholy. On water there have been at 
least two fatal accidents rivaling in a measure that of the 
Slocum, while on shore there have been countless fatalities, 
stretching all the way from accidents like that rear end col- 
lision in the New York Central's Park avenue tunnel to the 
great fire on the Hoboken piers, when the North River was 
filled with burning liners. 

Of the accidents in the waters of New York, the first of 
great importance occurred on July 30, 1871. This day, a 

pleasant Sunday, brought out the usual number of excursion- 

307 



308 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

ists to the beaches, and the Staten Island Ferry line was 
obliged to put on the Westfield for an extra trip. Laden with 
passengers, this boat had moved well into the stream when 
she was suddenly shaken by a terrific explosion. Her pilot- 
house was hurled into the air, great beams were twisted and 
bent, and many of her passengers who were amidships were 
blown into the air by the explosion. Many fell into the 
water; others fell back on the wrecked portion of the boat, 
from which clouds of steam poured forth. Of the passengers 
some were drowned, more were burned and scalded to death 
by the escaping steam. Divers recovered thirty bodies from 
the harbor, and the total death list was above eighty, while 
more than one hundred and twenty were injured. Investiga- 
tion revealed the cause of the accident to have been a 
defective boiler. Following the catastrophe, the press of the 
day was filled with clamors for the more careful inspection of 
steamers, the proper regulation of passenger craft, and other 
comments strangely like those to be heard at the present 
moment. The national government undertook an investiga- 
tion, while the local authorities were busy for days placing the 
responsibility and recovering the bodies. 

But it is the Seawanhaka holocaust, which happened on 
June 28, 1880, that most strikingly recalls the Slocum tragedy, 
not merely because it occurred at almost identically the same 
place in the East River, but also because in incident it is 
strangely similar. The Seawanhaka was a pleasure steamer 
plying between Glen Cove and the city, and on the day of the 
accident she was on her way to the former place, carrying a 
considerable number of well-known merchants of the city. 

Just as the Seawanhaka passed through Hell Gate several 



RECORD OF STEAMBOAT DISASTERS 309 

of her crew noticed flames coming from her engine-room. 
One man ran on deck crying "Fire!" Others endeavored to 
prevent a panic. The captain, C. P. Smith, from the pilot- 
house, repeatedly encouraged the excited crowd. As soon as 
he saw the extent of the fire he turned the boat for Ward's 
Island, then changed his mind, fearing to attempt grounding, 
and made for the Sunken Meadows, so frequently mentioned 
in the accounts of the recent accident. 

Meantime the flames swept rapidly over the steamer; pas- 
sengers one after another felt their clothes catch fire and 
leaped overboard. But Captain Smith, burned but undaunted, 
held his place at the wheel until the steamer grounded, and 
then leaped overboard. Meanwhile women and children were 
burned to death, exactly as they were on the General Slocum. 
Fortunately, in this instance the life preservers proved sound 
and there was time to serve them out. From all sides passing 
craft hastened to the assistance of the passengers. One yacht 
that ran alongside was capsized by the rush of people. 

After the accident Randall's Island presented the same 
appearance as North Brother Island after the Slocum 
disaster — bodies were washed ashore there, divers brought up 
the bodies of children, in one instance a mother and child, the 
mother's arms still about her baby. At the morgues precisely 
the same scene took place. As a result of the good condition 
of the life preservers, the speedy beaching of the steamer and 
the absence of a panic, the loss of life was far less than on the 
General Slocum. Thirty-two bodies were recovered and 
thirty were subsequently reported missing, making a total of 
sixty-two, less than a tenth of that caused by the recent 
disaster. 



310 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Prior to the recent horror, the accident which was attended 
with the greatest loss of life in this vicinity was the burning of 
the Brooklyn Theater, which for many years was regarded as 
the worst catastrophe in the annals of the city. This hap- 
pened on the night of December 5, 1876, when the theater was 
crowded. Suddenly the cry of "Fire!" was raised, a panic 
resulted, women and children were buried in the ruins, and a 
fearful loss of life ensued. Curiously enough, the papers of 
the following morning gave no suggestion of the extent of the 
disaster, and even expressed the hope that no lives had been 
lost. But the next day, when the firemen began to clear away 
the debris, the extent of the holocaust became apparent. The 
whole body of the theater was filled with the dead, and 295 
bodies were taken out. Of these only 217 could be identified; 
the remainder were buried under a circular mound in Green- 
wood Cemetery, and the city of Brooklyn raised a monument 
to their memory. 

But, fearful as was the Brooklyn disaster, it pales before 
the recent holocaust which happened at the Iroquois Theater, 
in Chicago, last December. On the afternoon of December 
30th this theater, newly opened, and believed to be one of the 
finest and most modern in the country, was crowded with an 
audience numbering more than two thousand, and largely con- 
sisting of children — a circumstance which closely resembles 
the situation on the General Slocum. The details of the 
tragedy are familiar — a sudden burst of flame, an effort on the 
part of the actors to check the panic, the failure of the asbes- 
tos curtain to work, and then, as the flames were driven out 
by explosions, one wild, frantic rush for the narrow doors — all 
these incidents were but recently recorded. When the panic 



RECORD OF STEAMBOAT DISASTERS 



311 



was over and the relief came, Chicago was dazed by the 
extent of the catastrophe. 

At the entrance bodies were piled in tiers, while many who 
sat in their seats were suffocated. Over six hundred bodies 
were taken from the theater, in the larger part those of chil- 
dren, in many cases fearfully crushed in the struggle for life. 
The effects of the Chicago disaster were felt over the world, 
and in every civilized country there was instant action by pub- 
lic authorities to prevent a repetition. 

A list of remarkable disasters to steamers on oceans, rivers 
and lakes in the last century is appended. 

President, foundered in midocean March, 1841 ; 136 lives lost 

St. George, burned in midocean December, 1852 ; 51 lives lost 

Arctic,, collision September, 1854; 322 lives lost 

Pacific, never heard of September, 1856; 240 persons on board 

120 lives lost 
150 lives lost 
470 lives lost 
237 lives lost 
297 lives lost 
250 lives lost 
80 lives lost 
178 lives lost 
180 lives lost 
585 lives lost 
220 lives lost 
312 lives lost 
165 lives lost 
389 lives lost 
147 lives lost 
116 lives lost 
103 lives lost 
182 lives lost 
119 lives lost 
72 lives lost 
563 lives lost 
160 lives lost 
113 lives lost 
74 lives lost 



Le Lyonnais, collision November, 1S56 

Tempest, never heard of November, 1857 

Austria, burned September, 1858 

Hungarian, wrecked February, i860 

Lady Elgin September, i860 

Anglo-Saxon, wrecked April, 1863 

United Kingdom, disappeared 1868 

City of Boston, never heard of January, 1870 

Cambria, wrecked October, 1870 

Atlantic, wrecked April, 1873 

Ville de Havre, collision November, 1873 

Schiller, wrecked May, 1875 

Borussia, foundered December, 1879 

Cimbria, collision January, 1883 

Vicksburg, struck by an iceberg June, 1875 

Dan Steinman, wrecked April, 1874 

State of Florida, collision April, 1884 

W. A Scholton, collision November, 1887 

Geiser, collision August, 1888 

Erin, disappeared December, 1889 

Utopia, collision March, 1891 

Bokhari, wrecked October, 1892 

Roumanian, wrecked October, 1892 

Naronic, never heard of February, 1893 



312 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 



Warship Victoria, collision June, 1893 ; 360 lives lost 

Horn Head, sunk by iceberg August, 1893 1 62 lives lost 

Alvo, disappeared October, 1893 ; 08 lives lost 

Elbe, collision Januarj', 1895 ; 361 lives lost 

City of Haverhill, wrecked April, 1895 ; 90 lives lost 

Cohma, wrecked May, 1895 ; 171 lives lost 

Osaka Maru, foundered '.January, 1896 ; 68 lives lost 

Copernicus, wrecked January, 1896 ; 163 lives lost 

Memphis November, 1896 ; 62 lives lost 

Utopia, wrecked February, 1897 ; 72 lives lost 

Ville de St. Nazaire, foundered March, 1897 ; 63 lives lost 

La Bourgogne, collision June, 1898 ; 594 lives lost 

British warship Captain, foundered in the Bay of Biscay 1870; 4S2 lives lost 

German battleship Grosser Kurfurst, rammed by another ship.. 1878; 281 lives lost 

British warship Eurydice, capsized 1S79 ; all hands (250) lost 

Princess Alice, collision September, 1878 ; 700 lives lost 

Nanchow, foundered May, 1892 ; 509 lives lost 

Utorsia, collision April, 1891 ; 564 lives lost 

Shanghai, burned 1 8go ; 300 Chinese perished 

Quetta, lost in Terres Straits 1890; 133 drowned 

Chicora, never heard of Januarj^, 1895 ; 26 lives lost 

Teuton, foundered after striking a rock 1881 ; 175 lives lost 

Spanish cruiser Reina Regina, collision March, 1895 ; 400 lives lost 

Gijon and Laxham, collision, both sunk Jul}', 18S4; 150 lives lost 

Uncle Joseph, collision November, 1880 ; 250 lives lost 

British training ship Atlanta, disappeared. .. .January, 1880; 70 men and boys lost 

Byzantine, collision in the Dardanelles December, 1S78; 225 lives lost 

Queen Charlotte, burned, flagship of Lord ICeith, off Leghorn Harbor, March, 1880; 

700 lives lost 

Ajax, burned off island of Tenedos February, 1807 ; 250 lives lost 

Steamer Lexington, Long Island sound, burned off Norwalk, Conn., January, 1840; 

122 lives lost 

Steamer Erie, burned. Lake Erie August, 1841 ; 250 lives lost 

Steamer J. P. Griffith, burned. Lake Erie June, 1850; 200 lives lost 

Steamer Webster, burned, Mississippi River May, 1851 ; 40 lives lost 

Steamer Henry Clay, burned, Hudson River July, 1852 ; 50 lives lost 

Independence, burned off Lower California February, 1853; 471 lives lost 

Steamer Ocean Wave, burned. Lake Erie May, 1853; 85 lives lost 

H. M. S, Bombay, burned off Floras Island December, 1864; 91 lives lost 

Steamer W. A. Waset, burned, Potomac River August, 1S73; 50 lives lost 

Costpatrick, emigrant vessel on way to Auckland, burned November, 1874; 470 

lives lost 

Steamer Seawanhaka, burned, East River June, 1880; 62 lives lost 

London, foundered January, 1866; 220 killed 

Evening Star, foundered October, 1866 ; 250 killed 



RECORD OF STEAMBOAT DISASTERS 



313 



82 killed 
300 killed 
104 killed 
104 killed 
124 killed 
99 killed 
300 killed 
100 killed 

, 89 killed 

Islands, March, 



1871 
1873 

1877 
1878 
1883 
1884 
1S87 
1877 



Rhone and Wye, wrecked October, 1867; 1,000 killed 

Westfield, explosion Ju'y. 

Northfleet, collision January, 

Huron, wrecked November, 

Metropolis, v/recked January, 

Daphne, turned turtle July, 

City of Columbus, wrecked ., January, 

Kapunda, collision January, 

Wah Young, burned , 

Sud America and La France, collision September, 

Trenton, Vandalia, Nipsic, Adler and Eber, wrecked on Samoan 
18S9; 147 killed 

Persia, wrecked January, 1890 

Dubourg, wrecked February, 1890 

Serpent, wrecked November, 1890 

Ertogaul, foundered September, 1890 

St. Catharis, wrecked April, 1891 

Trinabria, wrecked February, 1893 

Wairaro, wrecked November, 1894 

Reina Regenta, foundered March 11, 1891 

Drummond Castle, went ashore June, 1896 

Mohegan, wrecked October 14, 1898 

Portland, foundered October, 1898 

Northfield, collision June 14, 1901 ; i- killed 



130 killed 
400 killed 
167 killed 
loi killed 
90 killed 
115 killed 
134 killed 
400 killed 
250 killed 
100 killed 
1 29 killed 
5 missing 



CHAPTER XXIV 

THE NORGE DISASTER 

A lone pile of granite rising sheer out of the Atlantic, 290 
miles from the Scottish mainland, now is a monument to 
almost seven hundred dead who lie in the ocean bed at its 
base. Near by, completely hidden in the water, is the Scandi- 
navian-American liner Norge, which was carrying nearly eight 
hundred Danes, Norwegians, Swedes and Finns to join rela- 
tives or friends in America. Of these only about one hundred 
and fifty were saved. 

SENT FAST TO DOOM 

No tragedy of [the sea has had more appalling conse- 
ences, and none has occurred in a shorter time. The pas- 
igers were aroused suddenly from their sleep, terrified by 
I contact of the bows of the ship with the solid granite, fol- 
lowed by a grinding, rasping sound, as if the hull were being 
shoved over huge rocks. 

Then silence, except the clanging bells, that brought the 
engines to a stop. Those of the passengers who were stand- 
ing when the steamer struck were thrown against the bulk- 
heads or on the decks, and had not recovered their feet when 
a stentorian voice gave the terrifying order: "All hands on 
deck! Hurry, or you may sink!" 

PINNED AGAINST THE ROCK 

Immediately there was a rush for the narrow, companion- 
ways, and men, women and children pushed and struggled and 

3U 



THE NORGE DISASTER 315 

made every other effort to reach the deck, where the boats 
swung from the davits. Many persons, retaining the>r presence 
of mind, seized life preservers, only to find in some mstances 
that the strings were rotten and they could not be put quickly 
around their bodies. Those who reached the deck saw the 
nose of the Norge pinned directly against the rock. 

It remained there only a few minutes, for Captam Gundel, 
commanding, who had gone immediately to the bridge, gave 
the order to the engine-room to reverse the engmes. Some 
men of the engine force had relatives among the passengers, 
and after seeing them safely to the boats they heroically 
returned to their stations below. 

SUPREME FRIGHT AKD AGONY 

Slowly the ship backed off, and as she gained way it was 
found that water was pouring into her hold. This announce- 
ment, called out in Scandinavian and presagmg death added 
to the supreme fright and agony. The passengers who were 
piled in the boats were the fortunate ones who were to escape, 
while the unfortunates, who saw death near, clustered m the 
vicinity in seething, struggling masses, some on their knees, 
praying, surrounded by children, others supphcatmg a,d from 
any one and shrieking for permission to enter the boats 
elbowing, fighting their way to the places from which the 

boats were being lowered. , , , t ,u^ Nnrcre 

The sound of grinding ceased and the bow of the Norge 
yawed as the steamer returned to deep water. The sea 
rushed hungrily into the huge rents made by the rocks in the 
iron hull. Swiftly the vessel began to sink by the bows. 



3i6 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
TACKLE FAILS TO WORK 

Without waiting for orders, without paying attention to 
their proper manning, the occupants began to lower the boats. 
The starboard Hfeboat began slowly to fall, when, to the hor- 
ror of those on board, the stern tackle failed, while the bow 
tackle ran free. 

Soon the boat was almost perpendicular. Those in it clung 
desperately to the sides and sea's until a great wave came 
towering along and struck the boat, smashing it against the 
side of the ship. The occupants of the boat who were not 
killed by the impact were thrown into the water. The crew 
and passengers on deck had no time to spare to assist the few 
who had a chance to escape but lost it. Undeterred by the 
experience of the first boat, a second, loaded principally with 
women and children, was lowered. This time the tackle ran 
smoothly, but the hopes of escape of the passengers on board 
were blasted. 

WAVES SMASH BOAT 

The moment it touched the water the waves picked up the 
small craft as if it had been a feather and dashed it against 
the side of the ship in spite of the frantic efforts of the pas- 
sengers to fend it off. The crash was heard on deck. Then 
the sea swallowed more victims, and pieces of wreckage slowly 
drifted toward the rock. 

The upper deck of the Norge at the time of the disaster to 
the second boat was only a few feet from the water, and it was 
apparent to every one that only a few minutes more and she 
would plunge beneath the waves, In the final crisis those 
who were able to remember clearly what happened say that 
the shrieks and sobs died away, and that the quiet was broken 



THE NORGE DISASTER 31; 

only by the curses of some men whose fear found vent in 
blasphemy. 

TAKE TO THE SEA 

Suddenly one man threw himself overboard and another 
followed his example. Still another jumped into the water, 
and soon around the ship hundreds of persons were struggling 
in the sea, preferring death in the open to being submerged 
with the ship. Others determined to stand by the ship, hoping 
against hope that she would remain afloat. 

Three boats, it is known, successfully reached the sea. 
The passengers frantically pulled away from the doomed ship, 
passing by poor wretches who still were afloat and who vainly 
begged to be taken on board, while from the ship came long, 
despairing cries. 

DIE WHILE PRAYING 

The women in the boat which reached Grimsby hid their 
eyes, but the men who were sitting facing the Norge say they 
saw the captain still on the bridge and the passengers on deck 
in attitudes of prayer. While they looked, the Norge plunged 
forward, her stern shot up in the air and she disappeared. 
The swimmers in the vicinity of the ship were drawn into the 
vortex, around which they swirled like chips in the maelstrom. 

But twelve minutes elapsed from the time the ship struck 
until she sank. A fine Scotch mist which was falling at the 
time shut out the other survivors from the view of those who 
were brought to Grimsby. The latter, so soon as their boat 
was clear of the scene of the wreck, devoted themselves to 
thoughts of their own safety. 

A jacket was tied to an oar, which was in turn fastened in 
the bow of the boat, and a sailor, a Dane, took charge of the 



3i8 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

boat. Men and women were put to work keeping the boat 
afloat, as a hole had been stove in her bow when it was lowered 
from the ship. An examination of the water cask showed that 
it contained not a drop of water. There were some biscuits, 
however, and these were eaten by the shipwrecked people 
during the twenty-four hours from the time the ship struck, at 
7 o'clock a. m., June 28th, 1904, until they were picked up by 
the Grimsby trawler Sylvia. 

NO FIRE DRILL 

Karl Mathieson, the Danish sailor who assumed command 
of the boat brought to Grimsby, joined the Norge at Copen- 
hagen just before she sailed for New York. He said he knew 
nothing about the ship's arrangements in case of collision or 
fire. He never had been instructed in fire drill and did not 
understand what it meant. He was on deck when the vessel 
struck, but he did not know, until he heard the captain shout- 
ing the order to man the boats, that the damage was great. 
Mathieson said further: 

"I worked with the third mate and followed him to the 
different boats. The first we attempted to lower fouled her 
tackle, keeping her stern fixed, while her bows fell and shot the 
occupants into the water. A heavy sea washed the boat 
against the ship's side. 

CREW DISORDERLY 

"We went to another, a crowd of shrieking women and 
children following. The launching operations were not con- 
ducted simultaneously, the officers and crew going from one to 
another. Had men been set at work at each boat more would 
have been saved. Some of the crew were worse than the 
passengers, and but for the officers would have put off in the 



THE NORGE DISASTER 319 

boats themselves. These were driven back and threatened 
with death unless they obeyed orders. The captain never left 
the bridge, but he shouted so many orders that the crew did 
not know what to do. Therefore I stuck to the third mate. 
Together we jumped into a small boat just before the vessel 
went down, but we did not think so many were left behind as 
appeared on the water when the Norge sank. Those remain- 
ing on board were chiefly women and children. I saw only 
two other boats afloat, one a big lifeboat, easily carrying sixty 
persons, and the other a smaller boat, carrying possibly forty. 
No other boats got away, though there were eight on board." 
Katrina Tellander, whose husband lives at 331 North 
Franklin street, Chicago, said: 

MOTHERS CALL CHILDREN 

Everything was quiet and most of the passengers were 
sleeping. I had left my berth and was dressing my baby. 
When the ship struck the first time I did not know what it 
meant, but when it struck again I realized the meaning. I 
seized my child by the hair and ran up the companionway. 
I threw the baby into the bottom of a boat and then jumped 
in myself. 

"Some of the women on board had seven or eight children 
each, from whom they became separated, and the cries of 
these mothers calling for their missing children were heart- 
rending. 

"The life belts were almost useless, for the strings would 
not hold. When the boat left the ship there were many pas- 
sengers standing on the decks, begging, with hands out- 
stretched. Many, too, threw themselves into the water." 



320 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
INSTANT BRINGS HEROES 

Many deeds of heroism shine brightly through the pall of 
catastrophe. That of Jans Peters Jansen, who has relatives in 
Brooklyn, N. Y., is told with admiration by the survivors. He 
was one of the engineers of the Norge. When the ship struck 
he learned the extent of the disaster and went below to where 
his relatives were, and told them and those near by to go at 
once to the upper deck. He accompanied them to the boats 
and saw them safely on board. He was urged to join them, 
but said he must return to the engine-room, and shouting a 
farewell, ran to his post of duty, where he died. 

Some of the male passengers, without a thought of self, 
placed women and children in the boats, preferring to remain 
behind rather than take advantage of their strength. 

The mate of the Norge, who left the ship in the boat which 
arrived at Grimsby, England, seeing that it was overcrowded, 
leaped into the water for the purpose of swimming to a second 
boat not far away. He had only gone a short distance when, 
weighted by his clothes, his strength gave out and he sank. 

ORDERS MISUNDERSTOOD 

The crew of the Norge appear to have behaved well 
after the first panic, when, it is said, the officers were com- 
pelled to drive them back from the boats. But there appar- 
ently was no discipline, the orders which the captain shouted 
from the bridge being misinterpreted or unheard. So far as 
the survivors here remember, there was no systematic distri- 
bution of the people to the boats, which were not adequately 
manned. No attempt was made by any of the survivors to 
save property. There was no time to make preparations. 

Careful inquiry was made to discover why the Norge was 



TllK NOKGE DISASTER 



3-' I 



SO far off her course. Rockall reef is known to every sailor 
on the North Atlantic and is marked plainly on the charts. A 
strong current sweeps in its direction, and it is presumed, 
owing to absence of definite knowledge, that the current 
drew the Norge to her grave; that a heavy mist prevented 
the lookouts from seeing the danger, and that there was no 
thought of Rockall reef until the ship struck and the captain 
called out that they had struck this terror of northern navi- 
gation. 

ROCKALL ROCK 

Rockall is a lonely pyramidal rock some 70 feet in height 
and 250 feet in circumference, rising sheer out of the wild 
Atlantic waves, about 184 miles west-half south from St. Kilda, 
in the Outer Hebrides, 290 miles from the nearest point of the 
Scottish mainland and 260 miles northwest from the nearest 
point on the Irish coast. More exactly, its position — at least, 
as nearly as this has been ascertained — is latitude 57 deg. 30 
min. north, longitude 13 deg. 42 min. Vvest. There is neither 
soil upon it nor sandy beach around it, the depth of water 
close up to it being tv;enty or thirty fathoms, A "rock," 
therefore, it must be called, rather than an island or even an 
islet, and of all the rocks and islands, great and small, sur- 
rounding the British shores it is at once the most remote, the 
most desolate, the least known and in many respects the most 
remarkable. 

Not only has it never boasted a human inhabitant, but no 
holiday tripper or sportsman has ever desecrated its shores, 
and only on one or two occasions is it even known to have 
been landed upon. Only in the finest weather, when the 
almost ceaseless swell of the Atlantic has subsided for an hour 



322 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

or tv/o, Is it possible to land upon it, v/hile in winter the ocean 
waves far overtop its summit. This summit can only be 
reached, even when a landing has been effected, by an ascent 
on the northeastern face of the rock, so precipitous are its 
other sides. 

Yet, isolated as Rockall is, it forms, nevertheless, the sum- 
mit or peak of an extensive submarine plateau known as 
"Rockall Bank," which extends in a northeasterly and south- 
westerly direction for about one hundred and fifty miles, which 
has a breadth of about forty miles and about half of which is 
submerged to a depth of less than one hundred fathoms. 
Probably within comparatively recent times (in the geological 
sense) the greater part of this "bank" was exposed as dry 
land, which disappeared partly through gradual subsidence 
and partly through the action of the sea waves. 

Close to the main rock and with deep water between them 
lies a dangerous reef, exposed at low tide, knovv^n as Hazle- 
wood Rock; while a mile and a half southeast lies another 
similar rock, known as Helen's Reef, from a vessel of that 
name whose wreck upon it first made it known. 

That Rockall belongs, politically speaking, to Great Britain 
is a fact never likely to be disputed, for not only does it lie 
nearer to the British Isles than to any other land, but none 
except British fishermen have ever systematically resorted 
thither to fish. Yet Rockall is certainly no part of the British 
Isles, speaking strictly and in a physiographical sense, for 
while all the other islands lying adjacent to Britain, except the 
Faeros, lie well within what is known as the one hundred 
fathom contour line, including even St. Kilda, the nearest 
land, Rockall and the bank surrounding it are separated from 



THE NORGE DISASTER 323 

Britain by a sea giving soundings of from eleven hundred to 
sixteen hundred fathoms — depths which are truly oceanic and 
which indicate that the period v/hen a dry land communica- 
tion existed between Rockall and Britain (if, indeed, it ever 
did so), must have been immensely remote even as the geolo- 
gist reckons time. 

To the mariner Rockall presents itself as a serious danger. 
Neither the main rock nor the surrounding reef has ever been 
lighted, belled or buoyed, and the officials of the Trinity 
House regard them as lying outside their sphere of opera- 
tions. Yet, though not in the main line of cross-Atlantic 
traffic, there can be no doubt that they have frequently proved 
fatal to vessels. There are several actual records of wrecks 
upon them, the earliest being in 16S6, and it is probable that 
they are partly accountable for some of the disappearances 
of well found vessels which are reported annually from the 
Atlantic. Even in broad daylight the main rock is a menace, 
for, with its steep, tall sides and its pointed top, always 
whitened by the deposits of sea birds, it is invariably taken at 
first sight for*a ship in full sail. 

THE CAPTAIN'S STORY 

Thirty-tv/o survivors of the steamer Norge were landed at 
Stornoway, Scotland, on July 4th, by the British steamer 
Cervona. Seventy survivors were also taken off by the Ger- 
man steamer Energie. They were all in a pitiful condition. 
Many were taken to the hospital and most of them had to be 
carried ashore. 

Among those on board the Energie was Captain Gundel, 
of the Norge. He said: 

"All v.ent well until about a quarter to eight o'clock last 



324 NEW YORK'S AWFUL EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 

Tuesday. When about eighteen miles south of Rockali I felt 
the steamer strike heavily forward on a sunken rock. There 
was a gentle breeze blowing from the south, with a cloudy sky. 
"J was on the bridge with the chief officer, Carpenter. 
Soundings were taken and it was reported that there were 
five feet of water in the forward hold. 

TRIED TO SAVE LIFE 

"Orders were given to commence pumping and also to the 
passengers to put on life belts and be ready to get into the 
boats, which were ordered to be put out. 

"The crew worked nobly under the leadership of the chief 
officer. Seven boats got safely avv'ay, the life rafts were cut 
adrift and the steamer went donn by the bow. The chief 
officer told me she was sinking, and I told him to jump over- 
board, which he did. I did not see him again. 

"I went down with the steamer. My right leg got jammed 
between two stanchions and was very much injured. When 
I rose to the surface I noticed a number of bodies floating. 

"The Norge was afloat only about twenty minutes after 
striking. I swam for about twenty minutes and came across 
Second Engineer Brunn, who is a good swimmer. We kept 
company for about an hour and a half, when we noticed a 
boat some distance off, and we both made for it. I was hin- 
dered by my leg, and the engineer reached the boat first. 
Both of us were taken on board quite exhausted. We found 
that it was Lifeboat No. i. It was crowded and under the 
charge of Able Seaman Peter Olsen. 

"After recovering a little I took charge of the boat and 
the provisions, which consisted only of a box with bread and 



THE NORGE DISASTER 325 

two casks of water. The boat was steered for St. Kilda, one 
hundred and fifty miles distant. 

"On Saturday morning we saw a large schooner-rigged 
steamer about four miles distant. We put up a blanket on an 
oar, but the steamer passed on without taking any notice of us. 

"On Sunday morning a bark passed some distance off, but 
with the same result. 

"At about twelve o'clock Sunday land was sighted and the 
drooping spirits of all were revived. It proved to be St. 
Kilda. 

"Some time afterward a steamer was noticed coming from 
the west, bearing down upon our boat. She proved to be the 
Energie, and at six o'clock we were safe on board." 

A pathetic little sequel to this tale of rescue is contained in 
the statement that one of the children in the lifeboat died, and 
"with the consent of the parents, who were in the boat, the 
body was buried at sea." 

HARDSHIPS OF THE SURVIVORS 

The seventeen survivors from the steamer Norge, picked 
up in a small boat near the island of St. Kilda and landed at 
Aberdeen by the steamer Rattray B^y, included twelve pas- 
sengers, the third mate, and the quartermaster, a steward, a 
lamp trimmer, and one of the crew. They had lived for six 
days on thirty-four biscuits and six buckets of water. 

The party drifted at the mercy of the Atlantic for six days. 
When both water and food were gone, and when the occu- 
pants were almost too exhausted even to hope, the Rattray 
Bay hove in sight. This was on Jul}' 4th, when the boat was 
about thirty mih-s off St. Kilda. 



326 NEW YORK'S AWPX'L EXCURSION BOAT HORROR 
ON VERGE OF STARVATION 

Those rescued had eked out an existence on two biscuits 
per day. When they started from the ill-fated ship there was 
only one small cask of fresh water in the boat. Before the 
Rattray Bay fell in with them this and the biscuits had been 
finished and the pangs of hunger had set in. They weathered 
a gale and continued as best they might, striving to reach the 
coast of Scotland against the heavy seas. From strips of life 
belts they constructed a crude sail. The men had scarcely 
enough strength to hold the oars. 

When the survivors were dragged on board the steamer, 
the fishermen were obliged to prevent them by force from 
eating and drinking too much. 



